Felicity Ace Manifest Shows Heartbreaking Loss of Vehicles

We know Porsche lost quite a few vehicles when the cargo ship burned and sank, but the Felicity Ace manifest sheds new light.

Sometimes the best thing to do after a loss is to just move on. And when reflecting back on the Felicity Ace disaster it is important to remember that no lives were lost. But the vehicular loss is staggering. And now details of the Felicity Ace manifest are becoming available. By viewing the manifest, you can get a sense of the heartbreaking loss of vehicles. While losing a cargo ship full of cars is never a good thing it is an especially bitter pill to swallow when so many other factors are conspiring to make it difficult to build any car or truck right now.

You can find the Felicity Ace manifest by clicking here. At least a portion of it. This manifest shows that Porsche lost 340 cars. But if you add up all the cars listed on this manifest you will find it totals only 1,024 cars. And the Felicity Ace is capable of holding about 4,000 cars. And the estimated total loss of cargo was $400,000,000. It is unlikely the average vehicle value was over $390,000 so the actual number of vehicles lost is likely much greater than we see on this manifest. But even though this manifest may not be complete, we can see from it that the loses were staggering.

Porsche Loss

As mentioned, Porsche Cars North America, Inc. lost 340 vehicles. The lost vehicles were built in Bratislava, Zuffenhausen, and Leipzig. The manifest does not break down the vehicles by model. However, considering the plants the vehicles came from it means that potentially at least one copy of every Porsche model could have been lost at sea. On top of the Porsche vehicles lost the manifest shows that Audi lost 481 cars, Volkswagen lost 121, Bentley lost 25, and Lamborghini lost 21. As Porsche fans these losses hurt us for sure, but sadly there is more bad news.

Other Losses

If there is any good news for the vehicles Porsche lost it is that they were new, and undelivered to customers. Porsche will make up the losses and build new cars for everyone. But the ship was not full of just all new vehicles. A 1996 Honda Prelude was lost. It was VIN number BB81000065. That makes it the 65^th Prelude built that year. This was a dream car being imported by an individual. It is irreplaceable and thanks to the lovely way insurance companies work, the man importing it, might not even be able to collect an insurance payment for the loss. There are several other examples of single, used cars that were lost on that ship. These will be tougher to replace.

What’s Next?

At some point we are likely to see a full manifest that details all the cars lost. It is also possible that at some future date a salvage operation could take place to retrieve the lost vehicles to mitigate any environmental impact. But for now all we can do is be thankful that no one was hurt and hope that everyone that had a vehicle on that ship is made whole again.

Images: Reuters, Porsche

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Joe Kucinski

Joe has been obsessed with cars since he got his very first Matchbox toy in the ‘70s. In 2003, he found a new obsession in track days that led to obtaining his SCCA competition license in 2015. In 2019, he became a certified driving instructor for the National Auto Sport Association. His love for all things four wheels has never wavered, whether it's driving some of the best cars in the world on the racetrack, tackling 2,000-mile road trips in 2-seat sports cars or being winched off the side of a mountaintop in a Jeep. Writing for the suite of Internet Brands Auto Communities sites, including Rennlist.com, Ford Truck Enthusiasts, 6 Speed and more allows him to share that knowledge and passion with others.