Felicity Ace sinking (2022)
A car carrier that caught fire and sank off the Azores in 2022 with some 4,000 luxury vehicles, the reference case for battery risk at sea.
A fire on a ro-ro vessel is hard to control because the decks are open and loaded with fuel and batteries, and a small crew has neither the means nor the room to fight it. The Felicity Ace caught fire in open sea and burned for nearly two weeks before sinking under tow. The presence of electric vehicles, whose batteries can reignite after being put out, complicated firefighting, although the exact cause has not been publicly established. The cargo was insured under many separate cargo policies held by the manufacturers, which multiplied recoveries and settlements. For marine insurance, the event revived the question of how ro-ro vessels are priced and what detection and suppression standards electric cargo requires.
On February 16, 2022, the Felicity Ace caught fire southwest of the Azores with about 4,000 Porsche, Audi, Volkswagen, Bentley and Lamborghini vehicles on board; the crew of 22 was evacuated, and the ship sank under tow on March 1, 2022.
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