Porsches, Lamborghinis lost at sea may cost VW US$155m

[LONDON] The cargo ship carrying about 4,000 Volkswagen vehicles that caught fire last week could cost the automaker at least US$155 million, according to a risk-modeling company's estimate.

Of the roughly US$438 million total value of goods aboard the Felicity Ace, which went up in flames off the coast of Portugal's Azores Islands, Russell Group said on Monday (Feb 21) it estimates there are US$401 million worth of cars. VW group had Volkswagen, Porsche, Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini models on the vessel.

A VW spokesperson declined to comment on the situation on Monday. 2 large tugs with firefighting equipment were expected to arrive on Monday morning local time to start spraying water together with an initial salvage team that was on board already to cool down the ship, according to a unit of Mitsui OSK Lines.

No oil leakage has been confirmed and the vessel remains stable, the transport company said on a website set up to provide updates on the incident.

Russell Group is modeling the total value of vehicles on board, so its cost projections assume all vehicles are lost, according to a spokesman. The company estimates auto manufacturers other than VW may have lost about US$246 million worth of vehicles.

A spokeswoman for BMW said none of the company's vehicles are on board, while a Mercedes-Benz spokesman said the automaker isn't aware of any of its vehicles being on the ship.

Felicity Ace is roughly the size of 3 football fields. It was on its way to a port in Davisville, Rhode Island, from Germany's Port of Emden until the fire broke out on Feb 16. BLOOMBERG