Porsche faces legal action over electric car’s involvement in cargo ship fire

ABU DHABI: In February 2022 a ferocious event happened when the Felicity Ace cargo ship got into flames and sank in the Atlantic Ocean leading to a huge loss of around 4,000 vehicles mainly from Volkswagen Group brands. Due to this incident, Volkswagen Group is facing legal troubles in the form of two separate lawsuits. 

The first lawsuit was filed in Stuttgart over a year ago by Felicity Ace's insurer, Allianz, and the ship’s operator Mitsui OSK Lines. Another lawsuit is underway with mediation currently ongoing in a Brunswick court, Germany. The incident has led to legal troubles for VW Group as investigations are going on by the concerned authorities to find out the cause of the fire.

According to Bloomberg, a fire on the Felicity Ace cargo ship originated from Porsche’s lithium-ion battery pack that was being transported to the customer. This catastrophic incident happened near the Azores archipelago, involving a $155 million cargo, including 1,110 Porsches. Plaintiffs claim that the blaze was ignited by one of these vehicles, leading to significant damages.

The plaintiffs also allege that Porsche’s parent company, Volkswagen did not inform Allianz and Mitusi about the potential hazards and the precautions needed to be taken while transporting an electric vehicle. This allegedly contributed to the ferocious incident aboard the cargo ship.

Source: Bloomberg

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