Porsche CEO Oliver Blume has confirmed that the sports car brand lost more than 1000 customer cars when the cargo ship taking them to the US last month caught fire and sank.
The Felicity Ace was transporting around 4000 Volkswagen Group cars from the Emden port in Germany to Davisville, Rhode Island, before a fire started in the hold from an as-yet unknown source. All 22 crew members were safely rescued by the Portuguese Navy.
Salvage work was under way to recover the 650ft-long ship after the fire had been extinguished, but it listed to starboard before sinking on 1 March, due to structural issues caused by the fire and rough seas, according to its manager. An investigation into the cause of the fire is under way, and there has been no indication of whether the blaze took hold in the engine room or in one of the cars.
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