In 2022, a fire broke out on a ship carrying luxury cars, costing at least $236 million. Now a lawsuit claims an electric Porsche is to blame.
In February 2022, a wildfire broke out on the Felicity Ace while the ship was near the Azores, an archipelago in the mid-Atlantic belonging to Portugal. The ship, which was carrying 3,965 luxury vehicles from Germany to the United States, later capsized and sank at an estimated cost of at least US$236 million.
The 22 crew members managed to escape unharmed, but the ship was left unsalvageable.
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The ship had been carrying vehicles from the Volkswagen Group, with brands on board including Porsche, Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti and Volkswagen.
Initially, it was unclear how the fire was caused.
However, now the blame is mainly being placed on Porsche, with plaintiffs blaming the lithium-ion battery of a Porsche model, Bloomberg reports.
Multiple plaintiffs, including the ship's Japanese operator, Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd, and German insurer Allianz SE, are involved in a lawsuit filed in Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Württemberg.
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Volkswagen's Porsche unit is based in the German city. The Volkswagen Group is controlled by Porsche SE, which in turn is controlled by the Porsche-Piëch family.
Another lawsuit was filed in the central German city of Braunschweig.
It is alleged that the Volkswagen Group did not adequately inform the plaintiffs about the fire risk of electric vehicles and how to adequately prepare the cars for transport.
The cases were filed last year, but have not yet gone to trial as the parties attempt to resolve interim issues.
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Last year, the Panamanian-registered cargo ship Fremantle Highway caught fire off the coast of the Netherlands with around 4,000 vehicles on board.
It was reported that one sailor lost his life, while the rest of the crew, mostly Indians, managed to escape.
The ship's Japanese owners, Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd, immediately blamed the electric cars . The ship was later towed to Eemshaven in Groningen.
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The World Maritime Organization plans to implement new safety measures for ships carrying electric vehicles, with a growing number of fire incidents attributed to these cars.
The Dutch shipping organization KVNR has also called for increased regulation for the transport of electric vehicles.
Electric vehicle fires burn with greater intensity than regular fires and can reignite spontaneously.
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According to Drive.com.au, electric vehicle battery fires emit toxic gases and can be difficult to extinguish.
However, electric vehicle fires are rare – and much less common than gasoline and diesel fires.
Information source: news.com.au
