[Punatic]

New "cars in cargo ship" accident. Good to know the crew were all safely evacuated after a fire onboard, but the Felicity Ace is now adrift in the mid-Atlantic...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/c...crew-rcna16675

[EV NXT]

In what maybe the biggest automotive disaster in recent times a mammoth cargo ship believed to be carrying thousands of vehicles including 1,100 Porsches and 189 Bentleys is on fire and drifting off the coast of the Azores after its 22 crew members were rescued from the vessel.

An internal mail from Volkswagen revealed that the ship was carrying almost 4000 cars from brands like Porsche, Audi and Lamborghini.

Buyers of the luxury cars despair after the ship caught fire in the Atlantic.



Source

[GrandTourer]

Isn't this the second time this has happened with Porsche? I remember sometime around 2019, another cargo ship carrying a lot of 911 GT2 RS had sunk.

I'm 100% positive they have insurance for this (No OEM would transport cars without insurance, not even cars costing 3-4L). Just hope the customers don't have to wait for months again for the second batch of new cars now.

[lapis_lazuli]

There are a few electric cars, I think ID4 on board. I was just thinking, if it has got something to do with a bad battery, gone rogue? Just thinking aloud!

Reminds me of Grande America ship sinking with similar "car"go in 2019.

[ronford]

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[SnS_12]

As the fire started off in one of the cargo decks could be because of a battery as an improperly disconnected car battery in a used vehicle had stared a fire on the Hoegh Xiamen in June 2020.

With the kind of cargo and the values involved, the cargo insurers would be praying that the fires doesn't spread throughout the vessel as then it would be a total loss.

[arijitkanrar]

Originally Posted by lapis_lazuli

There are a few electric cars, I think ID4 on board. I was just thinking, if it has got something to do with a bad battery, gone rogue? Just thinking aloud!

Reminds me of Grande America ship sinking with similar "car"go in 2019.

Originally Posted by SnS_12

As the fire started off in one of the cargo decks could be because of a battery as an improperly disconnected car battery in a used vehicle had stared a fire on the Hoegh Xiamen in June 2020.

With the kind of cargo and the values involved, the cargo insurers would be praying that the fires doesn't spread throughout the vessel as then it would be a total loss.

Wouldn't these ships have a fire suppression system for the cargo holds?

[lapis_lazuli]

Originally Posted by arijitkanrar

Wouldn't these ships have a fire suppression system for the cargo holds?

Of course yes .

But I think it categorizes perhaps, certain "classes" of fires wrt maritime cargo and rules and regulations. It cannot be exhaustive but typical. Often the fire prevention is dependent on the detection speed. What I know for sure, Lithium battery fires, are FAST....and violent. I have worked on them in my professional capacity, for a major manufacturer. From room temperature to 750F is a matter of a few seconds. Standards to deal with these may still be evolving, as regards marine transportation is concerned. But, it is just my opinion. I am no expert in anything maritime. Flight safety regulations and UN38/UN3481 standards for battery transportation do exist, but then conditions beyond what is prescribed, do happen and that is when it gets dirty.

https://www.intertek.com/energy-stor...ation-testing/

In a ship, inside a cargo hold, I am certain, things are probably not as simple to manage, in an unfortunate eventuality.

[amol4184]

Luxury car buyers in the USA are in despair? Big deal.
Every thing will be insured and they will be out placing orders for RRs and Ferraris in place of Bentleys and Lambos, next week.

At least there is some good news out of this:

As of Wednesday night, the ship’s owner was arranging for the vessel to be towed, the Navy said. They plan to remain on site to monitor the situation, reporting no detectable traces of pollution so far.

[SnS_12]

Originally Posted by arijitkanrar

Wouldn't these ships have a fire suppression system for the cargo holds?

They do have it in place, but as was found out in the Hoegh Xiamen incident, the delay in the detection of the fire was the crew not immediately reactivating the vessel’s fire detection system after the completion of loading. Also, contributing to the extent of the fire was the master’s decision to delay the release of the carbon dioxide fixed fire extinguishing system.

With regards to this incident the actual cause for the series of events will only be known after a detail inspection is carried out.

As amol4184 mentioned the situation is not fully out of control as there has been no pollution detected. Also, these particular vessels are highly unstable (high center of gravity) and a challenge to refloat if the vessel is listed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtjtOWZZg94

Take a look at this incident where it took almost a year to clear it and the cost was more than the vessel and cargo cost combined together.

[sushantr5]

Everyone is covered by insurance. Nobody will loose a dime apart for peace for some impatient folks who will miss the ownership by few months. Probably they already own some other luxury car to drive till that time. Not a big deal.

But the biggest looser is the nature. So much of resources, energy and many other things gone for nothing.

[FASTLIFE]

Isn't it possible that some of the cars can be salvaged by shipwreck divers ?? 1 Porsche 911 is worth 1 crore even after flooded, so if someone tried to save 100 of them cars, restore them and sell in countries like Kenya and probably the most corrupted one's , register them there and sell it somewhere else can make a good buck. They just need expert sea divers , pinpoint of the location and a jetty with a crane/ big fishing boat types where you can tow a car in the back or the deck . I don't think all the cars were burnt before the ship sank , the body panels may be carbon fiber but the engine and chassis might be salvageable .

[Guite]

Originally Posted by amol4184

Luxury car buyers in the USA are in despair? Big deal.
Every thing will be insured and they will be out placing orders for RRs and Ferraris in place of Bentleys and Lambos, next week.

I don't see how that's going to happen. The ship owner would have insurance. The company (VW for example) transporting their goods would have insurance. However, the buyers has just book a car. He/ she does not have insurance on a car booked. Now delivery will be delayed. Between car company and customer, they may compensate customer for delay, or allow cancellation with minimal loss to customer. At the same time, does the car buyer has proof that the car lost in this accident is marked to be delivered to him/her? Point is: there is scope for company to cite other reasons for delay.

[Old_Salt]

Extremely sad for the crew who had to abandon ship. Car Carriers are inherently dangerous owing to the nature of the cargo. Thousands of vehicles with fuel, although minimal, is still a recipe for disaster.

Once fire starts, many factors need to be considered before eventually deciding to release CO2.

As myself has sailed on car carriers, I am sure the crew members would have tried best to fight fire, their efforts are appreciated.

Sometimes you win, sometimes the fire.

[amol4184]

Originally Posted by Guite

I don't see how that's going to happen. The ship owner would have insurance. The company (VW for example) transporting their goods would have insurance. However, the buyers has just book a car. He/ she does not have insurance on a car booked. Now delivery will be delayed. Between car company and customer, they may compensate customer for delay, or allow cancellation with minimal loss to customer. At the same time, does the car buyer has proof that the car lost in this accident is marked to be delivered to him/her? Point is: there is scope for company to cite other reasons for delay.

May be or may be not. The point I was trying to make was there could have been far more serious and possibly irreversible damages to nature and sea life out of this accident. The news does say "no detectable traces of pollution observed yet" so apparently it came pretty close to being a disaster.

Burning of some Bentleys, Lambos and GTIs causing heartburn to few rich people should be a matter of least or no concern at all.