Exposure loss for vehicle owners onboard Felicity Ace estimated at $155M

February 22, 2022, by Ajsa Habibic

A fire on the Felicity Ace car carrier off Azores Islands is likely to generate at least $155 million in expected losses for Volkswagen, Porsche, Audi and Lamborghini vehicles on board the vessel, the analysis from risk modelling company Russell showed.

According to Russell’s analysis, the total dollar value of goods on the ship is estimated to be $438 million and of that, an estimated $401 million was for cars and goods vehicles.

The company remarks that an internal email from Volkswagen U.S. reported in German media showed that the ship was carrying 3,965 vehicles of the VW, Porsche, Audi, and Lamborghini brands. Porsche confirmed that 1,100 of their cars were on board the ship.

Suki Basi, Russell Group’s managing director, said: “These figures showed once again the precariousness of global supply chains. The incident comes at a bad time for global carmakers who are in the middle of a supply chain crisis sourcing semiconductors, resulting in new delays for new cars. An event like this will not do a great deal in instilling trust with consumers.

“Using our ALPS Scenario Factory, we identified that the Volkswagen brand and its subsidiaries do indeed have significant exposure to this event, running into the millions.”

Felicity Ace caught fire on 16 February while crossing the Atlantic Ocean near Faial Island in the Azores.

Currently, two large tugs with firefighting equipment are on site while the arrival of an additional salvage craft with firefighting equipment has been delayed to 26 February.