The cargo fire and subsequent sinking of the Felicity Ace in February in the north Atlantic took with it 4000 Volkswagen Group vehicles including Bentleys, Lamborghinis and Porsches on the way to US customers.

Bentley lost 189 vehicles valued at an average of $A480,000. Porsche lost about 1100 cars, and Lamborghini had 85 on board, including 15 Aventador Ultimaes which were the last of a limited run of 600 to end the Aventador nameplate.

A report on the recovery operations by Automotive News said Bentley was very unlucky – it normally shipped about 40-70 cars at a time – but when it came to repatriation, it was fortunate that Bentley was quick enough to reinstate every order back into its system “before the boat even went down”, according to Bentley Americas’ vice president of sales and operations, Mike Rocco.

These orders included custom-designed Mulliner models which were finally delivered to customers at the end of last month.

“Of the 189 cars on board, 151 were (presold or custom-ordered) and we lost three or four customers, tops,” Mr Rocco told Automotive News.

“Our dealers did a fantastic job of maintaining the customers and keeping them informed.”

The cargo ship was six days into its trans-Atlantic journey with an arrival date set for February 23. At about 170km south-west of the Azores islands and about 1400km west of Lisbon, Portugal, its crew reported a cargo fire.

The cause has remained unknown but fingers point to the large number of EVs aboard fitted with potentially fire-prone lithium-ion batteries while conventionally-fuelled vehicles were holding quantities of petrol.

Efforts to contain the fire failed and it spread out of control which led to the ship being abandoned – with 22 crew members removed safely – near the Azores. The burning ship drifted before sinking.

The AN article said the timing of the fire was “particularly bad.”

“Volkswagen Group was already struggling with production disruptions caused by a lack of microchips,” it said.

“There was no additional inventory to pull from or production capacity that could be added to make up for the loss of the Felicity Ace vehicles.”

AN said Bentley CEO Adian Hallmark and his global team moved to fill the lost car orders and organised a replacement program. It was aided by an unlikely series of global incidents.

“China stepped up and said, ‘We’re seeing less demand; we can help you with some cars.’ ” Mr Rocco told AN.

Then, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Bentley stopped imports of cars and parts into Russia. 

“Those order slots opened up. So we were able to react and pivot very quickly,” he said.

Mr Hallmark said the plan was to replace the sunken Bentaygas, Continentals, Flying Spurs and Mulliner-built coaches within six months. 

“We’ve promised those customers, and we’re doing some clever things with dealers to keep (those customers) mobile, which I won’t talk about,” he told AN.

Dealerships communicated quickly with customers about replacements and gave customers a date when a replacement car was expected and also gave them a chance to change their order.

AN said that in the wake of the Felicity Ace sinking, global insurance firm Allianz has published that freight businesses should ensure that any EVs being shipped should be charged to no more than 50 per cent and that they are properly secured to prevent any shifting during transport.

It also said that crews must keep close watch on the cargo, with regular inspections and early-detection systems including thermal scanners, gas detectors, heat and smoke detectors, and closed-circuit TV cameras.

“If the maritime industry is to improve its incident record related to the transportation of lithium ion batteries, then all parties involved must understand the hazards involved, the most common causes and the problems associated with transporting in commerce,” AN said in a quote from Allianz.

“Only through a concerted effort by stakeholders in the supply chain can the industry hope to reduce the rate of incidents.”

The ship burned for days as rescue vessels and tugboats poured water on the abandoned hulk and on February 25, the fire was extinguished.

While being towed to a safe harbour, it listed on March 1 and sank in rough waters about 400km south of the Azores and is now about 3km below the surface.

By Neil Dowling