That sinking feeling

When the Felicity Ace cargo ship sank off the coast of Portugal in February, it was carrying thousands of cars. A fire had broken out, and the crew were soon evacuated, leaving the 2,500 prestige cars on board to sink to the bottom of the ocean with the ship.

The majority of the vehicles were built by the Volkswagen Group and included Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat and Volkswagen vehicles. In addition, several Land Rover, BMW, Ford, Honda, Kia, Mini, and Nissan models were also on board. It is estimated that the total loss of these vehicles is valued at US $400 million.

Fifteen of the lost vehicles were $500,000 Aventador Ultimae models, which had officially ended production. However, Lamborghini has re-established the supply chain to build more of them after a "great effort."

It has been speculated that a lithium-ion battery in one of the electric vehicles on board may have caused the fire, but it has not been confirmed. 

Building cars is hard, especially now. Car Manufacturers are facing problematic supply shortages all over the globe, and this temporary supply chain issue will see many North American customers waiting longer for their vehicles to arrive. 

Salvage of the Felicity Ace is now underway to mitigate potential environmental hazards, but it is likely to take years to complete.

Zoom Zoom