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The 26th Civil Chamber of the Stuttgart District Court dismissed the damage claim of the owner of the car transport ship Felicity Ace and five marine cargo insurers against Porsche AG on May 21, 2026. The plaintiffs had asserted damage claims amounting to nearly 30 million EUR, based on producer liability.
The lawsuit was filed by the owner of the ship and the five insurers who were supposed to cover the damages. Porsche, a company of the Volkswagen Group based in Stuttgart, was involved as the defendant in the proceedings.
Fire on board and sinking of the ship
The car transport ship had loaded nearly 4,000 new vehicles, including electric vehicles, at the port of Emden in early February 2022. On February 10, 2022, the ship left the port heading for the USA. Six days later, a fire broke out on board, the exact cause of which is disputed between the parties. The crew was evacuated while the fire continued to spread in the following days. The ship ultimately sank on March 1, 2022, in a water depth of 3,000 m south of the Azores.
In total, 1,117 Porsches, 1,944 Audis, 561 Volkswagens, 189 Bentleys, and 85 Lamborghinis were lost, including 15 high-priced Lamborghini Aventador LP 780-4 Ultimae with an estimated individual price of over 500,000 USD. These were the last edition of the model, whose production had already been discontinued at that time. Analysts estimated the damage caused by the loss of the cargo to be between 334 and 401 million USD.
The plaintiffs argued that a self-igniting lithium-ion battery of a Porsche Taycan was responsible for the fire. Porsche, on the other hand, denied this claim and referred to another possible cause of the fire. The plaintiffs sought compensation for the damages caused by the fire and the sinking of the ship.
Judgment of the Stuttgart District Court
The Stuttgart District Court ruled that the plaintiffs are not entitled to any damage claims. After conducting the taking of evidence, the chamber was not convinced that a Porsche Taycan had triggered the fire on February 16, 2022.
The judgment is not yet final, and the parties have the option to appeal the decision. The case number of the proceedings is 26 O 30/23.
