---
title: "‘Little Left to Burn’: Fire Dies Down in Cargo Ship Full of Porsches, Bentleys, VWs"
description: "After burning for five days, \"there is little combustible material left to burn,\" officials said."
date: "2022-02-21"
modified: "2022-02-21"
authors:
  - name: "Chris Tsui"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/chris-tsui"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/44382/little-left-to-burn-fire-dies-down-in-cargo-ship-full-of-porsches-bentleys-vws"
categories:
  - "Culture"
  - "News"
tags:
  - "bentley"
  - "boats"
  - "luxury"
---

# ‘Little Left to Burn’: Fire Dies Down in Cargo Ship Full of Porsches, Bentleys, VWs

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2022/02/GettyImages-1238599130.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Five days after the *Felicity Ace* started burning, it looks like the VW Group's nightmare shipping saga is finally starting to come to an end.

On Wednesday, [a cargo ship carrying close to 4,000 new Volkswagen Group vehicles](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/44330/cargo-ship-full-of-porsches-and-vws-is-on-fire-and-adrift-in-the-atlantic>) went up in flames in the Atlantic Ocean, but the fire is now reportedly starting to die down... simply because there isn't much left for the flames to burn. Via [*Automotive News*](<https://www.autonews.com/retail/fire-dies-down-ship-carrying-luxury-cars-little-left-burn>), captain João Mendes Cabeças told press, "The fire has subsided in recent hours" because "there is little combustible material left to burn."

Cabeças previously stated that EV lithium-ion batteries were "keeping the fire alive," that the fire was spreading closer to the *Felicity Ace*'s fuel tanks, and that putting said fire out would require specialist equipment. The report specifically calls out the presence of Volkswagen ID.4s but I wouldn't be surprised to find a fair number of Porsche Taycans and Audi E-Trons in there as well. And as we all learned from that one time [Richard Hammond flung a Rimac](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/11942/rimac-reveals-additional-details-about-richard-hammonds-crash-while-filming-the-grand-tour>) down that Swiss hill, electric car batteries are notorious for being very good at keeping a fire going.

![message-editor%2F1645459684422-gettyimages-1238598979.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1645459684422-gettyimages-1238598979.jpg>)
**Getty**

According to an internal VW email quoted by [*Bloomberg*](<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-17/thousands-of-volkswagen-group-cars-adrift-on-burning-cargo-ship>), there are precisely 3,965 cars on board. Per various company spokespeople, [189 of those happen to be Bentleys, approximately 1,100 are Porsches (including a Boxster Spyder earmarked for one Matt Farah)](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/44340/189-bentleys-lots-of-audis-are-on-that-burning-cargo-ship-adrift-in-the-atlantic>), and the remainder is an unspecified number of Audis, VWs, and likely Lamborghinis.

Economist Patrick Anderson, who previously estimated losses to be around $255 million not accounting for salvage costs or downstream dealership losses, now tells *Automotive News* that his estimate has now risen to $282 million. This is apparently assuming three-quarters of all cars onboard will be written off and a cumulative value of $376,675,000—or an average of $95,000 wholesale value per car. Anderson's estimate also does not account for environmental costs, the ship itself, lost crew wages, or the cost of the rescue.

After *Felicity Ace* caught fire off the coast of Portugal last Wednesday, all 22 crew members were evacuated successfully that same day. [Last we heard](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/44351/salvage-crews-racing-to-save-burning-cargo-ship-full-of-porsches-bentleys-and-vws>), three towboats from Gibraltar and the Netherlands are scheduled to arrive at Felicity Ace's location this Wednesday. The cargo ship will be towed to either the Bahamas or European waters.

*Got a tip or question for the author? You can reach them here: chris.tsui@thedrive.com*

## Author
Chris Tsui is *The Drive*'s former Reviews Editor and current freelance automotive journalist. He's based in Toronto.

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/cltsuii/>)