The cargo ship that caught fire last week carrying about 4,000 Volkswagen AG vehicles could cost the car maker at least $155 million, according to one consultant’s estimate.
Of the about $438m worth of goods aboard the Felicity Ace, which went up in flames off the coast of Portugal’s Azores Islands, Russell Group said on Monday it estimates there was $401m worth of cars.
VW group had Volkswagen, Porsche, Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini models on the vessel.
A VW representative declined to comment on the matter.
Mitsui OSK Lines, the operator of Felicity Ace, said on its website that two large tugs with firefighting equipment were expected to arrive at the vessel on Monday, to join an initial salvage team that was on board already to cool down the ship.
No oil leaks have been confirmed and the vessel remains stable, the company said.
Russell Group’s modelling of the total value of vehicles on board assumes all vehicles are lost, a spokesman said.
The consultant estimates auto companies other than VW may have lost about $246m worth of vehicles.
Felicity Ace is about the size of three football fields. It was on its way to a port in Davisville, Rhode Island, from Germany’s port of Emden when the fire broke out on February 16.
Company profile
Company: Eighty6
Date started: October 2021
Founders: Abdul Kader Saadi and Anwar Nusseibeh
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Hospitality
Size: 25 employees
Funding stage: Pre-series A
Investment: $1 million
Investors: Seed funding, angel investors
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
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Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
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Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
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Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
