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The fire burned for 6 days and continued inside the cabin.
Last week, a freighter carrying 3,965 new cars, including Porsche, Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini, broke out in a fire near the Azores in the central Atlantic, burning so far, but the lithium batteries of electric vehicles inside the cabin are likely to still be burning.
Fortunately, the 22 crew members on board were successfully evacuated, but due to weather reasons, the fire was dangerous, and the Porsche and other luxury cars on board may not be spared.
According to an earlier internal email from Volkswagen's U.S. subsidiary, the freighter carried a total of 3,965 new Volkswagen Group cars from Volkswagen, Audi, Lamborghini, Porsche, Bugatti, and other Volkswagen group. Among them, there are 1100 Porsches, 189 Bentleys, as well as Audi, Lamborghini and Volkswagen ID.4 models. The Drive News Network estimates that bentley cars on board alone are worth more than $30 million.
The fire has lasted for 6 days, and at present, the open flames on the hull of the cargo ship have been basically eliminated, but there is still billowing smoke in the cabin. On February 21, local time, Joao Mendes Cabecas, the captain of the port of Hottas, the nearest port to the ship, revealed to the outside world: "In recent hours, the fire on the freighter has subsided. But he also said there are still risks on the freighter because the lithium batteries of electric vehicles in the cabin may still be burning.
As for the cause of the accident, Joao Mendes Cabecas said in an interview with Reuters that there was an unknown number of electric vehicle power batteries on board that caught fire, but it was unclear whether the batteries were the cause of the fire. According to foreign media Imaginfo, the model that caught fire may be the Audi e-tron Sportbacks, and the combustion of the power battery has set new problems for the rescue work.
According to insurance experts at risk solutions firm Russell Group, the cargo ship was carrying $438 million in cargo, including cars and vans worth $401 million.
01
The shortage of semiconductor chips is raining again
As mentioned earlier, the freighter has a total of 3965 new cars on board, and the data currently cleared out includes 1100 Porsches, 189 Bentleys, and the remaining models are Lamborghini and Audi.
According to software company Skytek, these cars start at $99,650 and are worth $400 million to $500 million. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, and Joao Mendes Cabecas, a captain at the ship's nearest port, Port Hortas, said the lithium batteries for the ship's electric vehicles were still burning, but it was not known whether such batteries were the cause of the fire. There are also foreign media reports that the starting train type may be Audi e-tron Sportbacks.
Since the epidemic, German automakers have been facing problems such as shortages of semiconductor chips. When asked how he views the prospect of semiconductor chip shortages in 2022, a veteran of the German auto manufacturing industry in Stuttgart told reporters that there is no sign of improvement, and the biggest headache he wakes up every day is the chip shortage.
IHS Markit also noted in a recent report that in 2022, analog chips will become a worrying factor in the industry, and semiconductor products will continue to experience some production disruptions. "Regarding chip shortages, it is safe to say that in 2022, this phenomenon will continue. Semiconductor lead times are usually within 12 weeks, which have now reached 26 weeks or more, and may be extended, which will have an impact on the decision-making of automakers. The report said.
Matteo Fini, IHS Markit's vice president of automotive supply chain and technology research, told reporters that the recent shortages in these supply chains have forced automakers to violate the mature model they have established in supply chain management over the past 30 years, that is, to "betray" the famous Toyota Way.
At the moment, he said, automakers are considering "hoarding" certain parts because the cost of expanding inventory is almost nothing compared to the losses caused by production line downtime. If the production line goes down for a week, it costs an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) more than $50 million.
02
Fire remains one of the most important safety issues in maritime transport
It is reported that this is not the first time that volkswagen groups have encountered a new car maritime fire. During a sea trip in 2019, more than 2,000 luxury new cars, including Porsche and Audi, also caught fire and eventually sank into the sea.
Previously, in 2020, a freighter carrying 2,420 used cars also caught fire in the port of Jacksonville, Florida, USA, and the fire burned for more than a week, with total damage estimated at $40 million, and all vehicles were scrapped. The final survey results showed that the batteries of many vehicles on the ship were not disconnected and fixed according to the procedure, and then the batteries of a second-hand car were not properly disconnected, causing a circuit failure and then catching fire.
As insurer Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) points out, while shipping losses have fallen by 50% over the past decade, on-board fires remain one of the biggest safety concerns and have actually increased significantly in recent years.
Over the past decade, AGCS has identified fires as the third leading cause of shipping losses, with Captain Rahul Khanna, AGCS's head of global marine risk consultancy, saying: "The shipping industry's safety record has improved significantly over the past decade and the total number of losses is currently at a historic low, however, fires on motor carriers, RoRos, container ships and other vessels remain the industry's biggest concern, as evidenced by the recent increase in accidents. ”
"Ro-Ro vessels and car carriers, in particular, are more vulnerable to fire and stability issues than other vessels, so risk management needs to be paid more attention." Captain Kana explained that in order to facilitate the transportation of cars, the interior of the cargo ship transporting the car was not divided into separate spaces like other cargo ships. The lack of internal separators can adversely affect fire safety, and a small fire on a car or battery can quickly spiral out of control. And once the loading is complete, the car is inconvenient to get in and out.
At the same time, "the large amount of air in the open cargo hold can provide a ready-made oxygen supply in the event of a fire." He added.
It is understood that when the lithium battery is burned, its internal temperature will quickly rise to more than 1200 degrees Celsius, and it is necessary to use professional fire extinguishing equipment to extinguish, which increases the difficulty of fire extinguishing.
In the past two years, the maritime market is hot, the lack of crew and ships has become a problem, of which hidden dangers are prominent, such as due to the shortage of capacity, container goods have signs of switching to general cargo ships, and the lack and decline of professionalism have increased the risk of shipping.
A veteran of the shipping industry told reporters, "At present, such a risk is actually very large, for example, a person signed a bill of lading, and then found someone to help him do it, after doing it, he threw up his hands and left, leaving an innocent cargo owner and shipping company agent." This is very troublesome. ”
He told reporters that in addition, some cargo owners have also begun to charter ships, such as hypermarkets or freight forwarders chartering ships to transport goods, "but the question is, can they do half-way transportation?" Is there any market access? Who is responsible for future ship accidents? There are many security issues here. ”
He said that there are now two ways of thinking, one is to let everyone do it first, and then manage it when there is a problem, and the other is to manage it well in advance and let it develop in an orderly manner. "I think it's better not to let everyone's dreams and expectations fall short."
Japanese Merchant Marine Mitsui (MOL), the operating company of the Felicity Ace, announced that it had arranged for two large tugboats equipped with fire-fighting equipment to assist the Felicity Ace, one of which arrived from Gibraltar on Feb. 20 and the other from Gibraltar, which is expected to arrive on site on Feb. 21. In addition, a salvage vessel with firefighting equipment will arrive at the scene of the fire from Rotterdam on 23 or 24 February.
Editor-in-charge Liu Shule
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