Porsches and Lamborghinis lost in cargo ship fire may be worth $155m

Smoke billows from the burning 'Felicity Ace', south-east of the Azores. Photo: Portuguese Navy

The cargo ship that caught fire last week carrying about 4,000 Volkswagen AG vehicles could cost the car maker at least $155 million, according to one consultant’s estimate.

Of the about $438m worth of goods aboard the Felicity Ace, which went up in flames off the coast of Portugal’s Azores Islands, Russell Group said on Monday it estimates there was $401m worth of cars.

VW group had Volkswagen, Porsche, Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini models on the vessel.

A VW representative declined to comment on the matter.

Mitsui OSK Lines, the operator of Felicity Ace, said on its website that two large tugs with firefighting equipment were expected to arrive at the vessel on Monday, to join an initial salvage team that was on board already to cool down the ship.

No oil leaks have been confirmed and the vessel remains stable, the company said.

Russell Group’s modelling of the total value of vehicles on board assumes all vehicles are lost, a spokesman said.

The consultant estimates auto companies other than VW may have lost about $246m worth of vehicles.

Felicity Ace is about the size of three football fields. It was on its way to a port in Davisville, Rhode Island, from Germany’s port of Emden when the fire broke out on February 16.