12 March 2022
The 650-foot-long car carrier, the Felicity Ace, caught ablaze in February while travelling from Germany to the United States. Nearby ships and helicopters could rescue the 22-person crew without injury; however, the vessel wasn’t as lucky.
For weeks, the world watched as the Felicity Ace continued to burn. The vessel sank roughly 250 miles off Portugal’s Azore Islands. According to Singapore-based MOL Ship Management, it was being towed back to land when rough waters slowed down the process and eventually caused the ship to sink.
Onboard, the ship was transporting 3,965 Volkswagen AG vehicles, including 1,110 Porsches, 189 Bentleys and 21 Lamborghinis, as well as an unspecified number of Audis. Any thoughts of saving any of the cars have been quashed.
In July 2021, Lamborghini built the last Aventador with the Ultimae as the last naturally aspirated V12 without electric assistance. The build-run capped at 350 coupés and 250 roadsters.
All Aventador V12 and Huracán V10 machines were on their way to customers, who already had to wait about 12 months to take delivery.
In an interview with Automotive News Europe, Lamborghini America CEO Andrea Baldi admitted that Aventador production could restart. Should some of the cars be damaged or destroyed, Baldi said the company would have to reach out to suppliers and see whether the required parts could be replaced.