Cargo ship near Alaska catches fire, US Coast Guard responding
The US Coast Guard said on Wednesday it was responding to a fire on board a 600 foot (183 m) cargo ship near Alaska, but added that no injuries had been reported.
The ship, Morning Midas, had 22 people on board and was located 300 miles (482.8 km) southwest of Adak in Alaska. The ship's crew was actively fighting the fire, the coast guard said.
The Liberia-flagged cargo ship's destination was set for Lazaro Cardenas in Mexico, according to LSEG data.
The coast guard said that aircrews and a cutter ship were en route to assist with the situation, and three vessels were already on scene.
The US Coast Guard and the ship's owner Hawthorn Navigation Limited did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
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Since January 2024, the EU has incorporated maritime emissions into its Emissions Trading System — a monumental shift in regulatory design. Vessels calling at EU ports must now purchase allowances covering 40 percent of their verified carbon dioxide emissions, a share that will rise to 70 percent in 2025 and 100 percent by 2026. With carbon prices hovering around €70 ($79) per tonne, the cost implications are profound. A typical large container ship, emitting approximately 60,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually on EU routes, could face annual carbon costs exceeding €5 million by 2026. This is in addition to already elevated fuel prices, retrofitting expenses and evolving port compliance mandates. The intent — to catalyze decarbonization — is valid. But the execution, absent global harmonization, risks regulatory fragmentation and competitive distortions. Meanwhile, the International Maritime Organization has set its own benchmark: net-zero emissions by 2050, with a 40 percent reduction in carbon intensity targeted by 2030. These goals necessitate a seismic shift toward alternative fuels such as green methanol and ammonia. Yet these fuels remain commercially scarce and up to four times more expensive than conventional options. Retrofitting a single vessel can cost between $5 million and $15 million, with uncertain payback periods. Infrastructure for alternative fuels remains embryonic, particularly across the Global South. Other transport sectors face analogous dilemmas. Aviation is constrained by the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, which seeks to cap emissions at 2019 levels through offsets. Meanwhile, the electric vehicle transition — long hailed as a panacea for road transport emissions — is encountering both technological and geopolitical headwinds. 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This adds pressure on thin operating margins and complicates investment in cleaner technologies. Biofuels offer only a partial remedy. Sustainable aviation fuel can reduce lifecycle emissions by up to 80 percent, but it accounted for just 0.3 percent of global aviation fuel use in 2024. Marine biofuels suffer from similar bottlenecks: limited production, high prices and sustainability concerns over feedstocks. Poorly regulated biofuel mandates could inadvertently aggravate land-use conflicts and food insecurity. The global decarbonization agenda must reconcile environmental ambition with economic realism and technological maturity. Policy frameworks must reward — not penalize — sectors that are already outperforming in carbon efficiency. Maritime transport, while imperfect, remains the most optimized vector for global trade on a per-tonne basis. Overregulating it will not only raise costs but may also displace emissions to less efficient modes of transport. 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