A cargo ship abandoned in the Pacific Ocean, will continue to burn out of control for at least a week, as authorities struggle to rescue the stricken vessel.
The Morning Midas was carrying around 3000 cars en route from China to Mexico when it caught fire about 450km southwest of Alaska’s Adak Island.
The ship was ferrying 3.048 cars, 70 of which are fully electric and 861 are hybrid vehicles.
According to unconfirmed reports, the fire broke out on one of the decks carrying the EVs.
The US Coast Guard Alaska Division was called to the scene of the disaster by a distress call at around 3.15pm on Tuesday (local time) and first witnessed smoke coming from the deck of the vessel, where the EVs were said to be stowed.
The crew of the Morning Midas were unable to get the fire under control and in consultation with the US Coast Guard decided to abandon ship, with all 22 sailors taken to safety.
As the ship continues to burn, salvage operators appointed by the ship’s owner Zodiac Marine, are not expected to reach the vessel, until ‘approximately June 9’ which means it will have been on fire for a week by then.
“A first tug carrying a team of salvage specialists and specialised equipment has already been mobilised and is expected to arrive at the scene on approximately 9 June,” Zodiac Marine said in a statement.
“There it will assess the vessel’s condition and provide necessary support. An additional fire-fighting tug, capable of ocean towage, is also being arranged to provide further support.”
The incident has underlined the safety issues with transporting electric vehicles whose lithium ion batteries can catch fire and are very hard to put out – sometime burning for two weeks.
This isn’t the first time a car-carrying ship has burnt down with EVs on board.
In 2023 the Fremantle Highway, a car carrying ship, caught fire with about 3000 cars on board near the Netherlands. It followed the 2022 Felicity Ace disaster – a ship that caught fire in the Atlantic with around 4000 vehicles on board.
The crew abandoned ship, setting the enormous car carrier adrift near Portugal. The vessel capsized and sank with a full load of luxury vehicles including 1100 Porsches. A lawsuit took aim at Porsche for the Felicity Ace fire, blaming its electric cars for the fire.
Well, at least we aren’t burning fossil fuels anymore right? Right?
