[RahulNagaraj]

In 2022, a cargo ship "Felicity Ace" caught fire and sank while travelling between Germany and Rhode Island. The ship carrying thousands of supercars from brands from Audi, Porsche, Bentley and Lamborghini, sank with no chance of recovery whatsoever.

Now, according to the latest report, the Volkswagen Group could be facing two lawsuits because as per the ship operator's claim, the fire was triggered by the battery of an electric Porsche. The first lawsuit was reportedly filed by 6 plaintiffs, including the ship operator, Mitsui OSK Lines and Allianz - the insurance company of the vessel. The lawsuit claims that Volkswagen did not inform everyone of the risks and precautionary measures necessary to transport their EV.



This case was filed last year, however, was paused due to mediation talks planned for a second lawsuit in Germany. Reports state that if a settlement isn't reached both cases will resume in court.

The financial loss due to the sinking of the ship, back in 2022, was estimated at around $155 million. While the entire crew abandoned the ship and were taken back to land by the Portuguese Navy, the cars ended up at the bottom of the ocean. However, over the past 2 years, the VW Group has managed to replace most of the vehicles which were on their way to their owners.

Apart from the supercars, including 15 units of the limited Aventador Ultimae; the ship also included several used other used non-Volkswagen cars that also burned and sank along with the ship.

Source: AutoEvolution

Link to Team-BHP news

[Samarth 619]

You know, if wishes were horses, I would've loved to buy a defective, damaged Aventador Ultimae for cheap, just as a showpiece, a memory. BUT, often these oceans go as deep as 13000 feet, around 3 kms, and the water pressure & darkness at these depths means the ship and its contents are unrecoverable, ever.

The lawsuit claims that Volkswagen did not inform everyone of the risks and precautionary measures necessary to transport their EV.

Any basic tenth grader is expected to know that if its an e-vehicle, a fire is a definite possibility with a Li-ion battery on-board.
But even mobile phones have been transported in huge numbers..

The main questions in my mind are:-
1. Why did the fire occur at all?
2. Was it a car only, which caused the fire, can we conclusively determine?
Insurance companies are being employed to mitigate such risks only, can they escape claim saying that the client didn't enlighten us of the risks?

Insurance is meant to mitigate risks for an accident, right? Surely they don't suggest Volkswagen play a teacher by informing "Li ions can explode?".

And if there's a certain defect in the cars, or it has weak jerk resistance or so, can they reject claim without proving the defect itself?

[M_Poweredd_]

There were many vehicles involved and I guess when the Porsche caught fire the fuel in other cars acted as a catalyst to cause more damage. Combine this with other materials like tyres, leather etc and it can get out of control pretty easily.

[GrandTourer]

Originally Posted by M_Poweredd_

There were many vehicles involved and I guess when the Porsche caught fire the fuel in other cars acted as a catalyst to cause more damage. Combine this with other materials like tyres, leather etc and it can get out of control pretty easily.

Noob question here: Aren't cars transported without fuel? And if that is true, are there similar measures for EVs, like disconnecting the battery during transport? I know it wouldn't be as simple as removing the leads of the battery like in an ICE vehicle. But surely, there must be some SOP for transporting EVs.

[M_Poweredd_]

Is this a thing that happens with Porsches.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by GrandTourer

Noob question here: Aren't cars transported without fuel?.

Not on these ships, they are RoRovessels. Roll on, Roll off. Every car is driven on and off the ship under its own power! So all cars have fuel in their tanks.
They leave the keys in the car and batteries are also connected. No difference to you or me parking our car in the street.

They might get tied down though for obvious reasons.

Most shipping and insurance companies require less than a 1/4 tank. I am sure they have given that some thought. In my mind a 3/4 empty tanks is a larger fire and explosion risk than a full tank.

But I guess once a fire has started you might be better off with less fuels in the respective tanks.

Driving brand new cars on and off a RoRo vessel is a fun job. I have done it in my younger years when still a student.

Jeroen

[Old_Salt]

Originally Posted by GrandTourer

Noob question here: Aren't cars transported without fuel? And if that is true, are there similar measures for EVs, like disconnecting the battery during transport? I know it wouldn't be as simple as removing the leads of the battery like in an ICE vehicle. But surely, there must be some SOP for transporting EVs.

I have worked on Ro-Ro and PCTC in my younger days and like someone mentioned, around 1/4th fuel is present in tank.

SOPs are there however batteries aren’t disconnected.

Last year, one of the vessels of a large ocean carrier had a fire inside a container enroute, again due to EV.

https://gcaptain.com/electric-vehicl...n-maersk-ship/