Firefighting Boats Head to Burning Ship Carrying Volkswagen, Porsche and Bentley Cars
First boats set to reach Felicity Ace transport ship on Sunday
BERLIN—Firefighting tug boats were headed on Saturday toward the Felicity Ace, a 60-ton ship ablaze in the Atlantic Ocean that is carrying thousands of Porsche, Bentley and Volkswagen vehicles to U.S. dealers.
The shipping company and the car makers said it was still too early to determine what caused the ship to catch fire on Wednesday.
“It will be months before we have completed an investigation and know what happened,” said a spokesman for MOL Ship Management (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., which owns the company operating the Felicity Ace.
The fire is the latest supply-chain setback for the auto industry, which for much of the pandemic has struggled to meet increased consumer demand amid continued shortages of semiconductors and other parts. All the car brands on the ship are made by Volkswagen AG VOW -3.12% .
Spokesmen for Porsche AG and Volkswagen declined to comment on whether electric vehicles were on board the ship. Lithium-ion batteries used in electric cars are flammable and have combusted in rare circumstances.