Overview

• The Landgericht Braunschweig began its main damage-claim trial on July 2 with shipowners and insurers suing two Volkswagen Group entities and Porsche over the MS Felicity Ace fire and sinking.
• Plaintiffs assert that a technical defect in a Porsche Taycan’s lithium-ion battery self-ignited and caused the blaze aboard the carrier.
• Volkswagen and Porsche have rejected the allegations as baseless and said they will mount an energetic defence.
• Parties have until early October to submit initial position statements before the court moves into expert witness examinations later this year.
• The case follows a failed out-of-court mediation and runs in parallel with related suits in Stuttgart and Panama, prompting calls for improved firefighting systems on electric-vehicle carriers.