As we announced a few days ago, all 3,965 cars on the Felicity Ace cargo ship were destroyed. The ship carried 1,100 Porsches, 189 Bentleys, while the rest consisted of Volkswagen, Audi and Lamborghini, including electric models. The Portuguese Coast Guard managed to save the crew, while the ship was left on fire.
It is not known what caused the fire, but Lithium-ion batteries in electric cars have contributed to its rapid spread to fuel tanks. According to Captain João Mendes Cabeças: “The fire has decreased because there is little fuel left on the ship.” This made it clear that all the cars had burned down. He also said that special equipment was needed to put out such a fire, and even then, putting out the fire would be more difficult.
When it comes to the value of the damage, economist Patrick Anderson assumes that 75% of cars were destroyed. In his calculations, he calculates an individual value of $ 95,000 per car. This brings the total value of the destroyed cars to $ 376,675,000. Initially, he estimated that the damage could be around $ 255 million, not knowing that all the cars were destroyed.
The estimated damage applies only to cars and not to damage caused to the ship or the environment.
Source: Bloomberg