Fire on cargo ship off Alaska carrying EVs left burning
WASHINGTON - A fire on a cargo ship carrying electric vehicles off the coast of Alaska was left burning with salvage teams expected to intervene on Monday, according to media reports.
The Alaskan coast guard received a distress call on Tuesday reporting a fire onboard the Morning Midas, a British-managed cargo ship with 22 crew members and carrying thousands of vehicles.
The crew evacuated on a lifeboat before being rescued by another private vessel.
An overflight of the cargo ship, currently located around 547 kilometres southwest of Adak, confirmed the ship was still burning on Wednesday, the coastguard said in a statement.
"Currently, there are no visual indications that the ship is taking on water or listing, and the extent of the damage is unknown," it said.
Dustin Eno, a spokesman for the ship's management company Zodiac Maritime, said there were no firefighting vessels nearby to help extinguish the blaze, the New York Times reported.
A salvage team was expected to arrive on Monday, the outlet and the Los Angeles Times said.
Video footage released by the coastguard shows smoke rising from the 600-foot (183-meter) vessel, which is reported to be carrying more than 3,000 vehicles, around 750 of which are electric or hybrid.
Electric vehicles contain lithium-ion batteries, which are generally safe but can overheat and ignite if damaged.
The ship is also estimated to be carrying hundreds of metric tons of gas fuel, according to the coastguard.
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eNCA
4 hours ago
- eNCA
Fire on cargo ship off Alaska carrying EVs left burning
WASHINGTON - A fire on a cargo ship carrying electric vehicles off the coast of Alaska was left burning with salvage teams expected to intervene on Monday, according to media reports. The Alaskan coast guard received a distress call on Tuesday reporting a fire onboard the Morning Midas, a British-managed cargo ship with 22 crew members and carrying thousands of vehicles. The crew evacuated on a lifeboat before being rescued by another private vessel. An overflight of the cargo ship, currently located around 547 kilometres southwest of Adak, confirmed the ship was still burning on Wednesday, the coastguard said in a statement. "Currently, there are no visual indications that the ship is taking on water or listing, and the extent of the damage is unknown," it said. Dustin Eno, a spokesman for the ship's management company Zodiac Maritime, said there were no firefighting vessels nearby to help extinguish the blaze, the New York Times reported. A salvage team was expected to arrive on Monday, the outlet and the Los Angeles Times said. Video footage released by the coastguard shows smoke rising from the 600-foot (183-meter) vessel, which is reported to be carrying more than 3,000 vehicles, around 750 of which are electric or hybrid. Electric vehicles contain lithium-ion batteries, which are generally safe but can overheat and ignite if damaged. The ship is also estimated to be carrying hundreds of metric tons of gas fuel, according to the coastguard.
Daily Maverick
3 days ago
- Daily Maverick
After the Bell: What is it with our middle-class school obsession?
Many of us like to try to understand a person we are talking to, a person we have just met. We want to know more about them. We often want to place them in our context. There is a useful phrase to describe all of this. It's often referred to as 'class'. I wonder how many times you've been asked, 'Where did you go to school', or 'Where are your children at school?' If my answer to either of those questions was 'Bishops', you'd know it already… I have lost count of how many times I've been asked one of those questions by other middle-class South Africans. And how many times I've asked the question myself. A friend of a friend who lives in the UK told me recently that when they were planning their holiday here, her British husband remarked that he would spend his December listening to middle-aged people asking each other what school they had gone to. I am absolutely guilty of this. I have school-age children and this has perhaps made my recent conversations around schools particularly acute. But even professionally, when talking to people I've just met, or filling the time waiting for an interview or a meeting to start, the conversation will almost automatically get around to it. I'm lucky enough to spend some Saturday mornings at my son's school, talking to other fathers who I often haven't met before. And, inevitably, either they or I will bring the conversation around to schools. It often starts with someone asking where my daughter is, or where my children went to primary school, and moves on to where I went. (If you are curious, my school was and is a government school, a very strong rugby school and an exceptional cricket school… with a motto demanding that we use all our strength.) I don't think other societies, or even the middle classes of other societies, have this school obsession. Or, at least, not to the extent that we do. I mean, is it that common for school rugby matches to be broadcast on TV in other places? But I do wonder if this obsession with 'which school' is about something else. Many of us like to try to understand a person we are talking to, a person we have just met. We want to know more about them. We often want to place them in our context. There is a useful phrase to describe all of this. It's often referred to as 'class'. I sometimes wonder if this is particularly acute in South Africa because we live in such a diverse country. And for a very large group of people, there has been just the most amazing and impressive upward social mobility in a very short space of time. Recently, I was at an Open Day of what can only be described as a mind-blowingly expensive girls' school in Joburg. I asked another dad if he had gone to a school like this. The main reason I asked is because I knew the answer would tell me a lot about him. His reply, that 'No ways, I went to school in Alex', told me so much. He had been born with much less than I, he had clearly worked his way up impressively and he was taking his daughter's education very, very seriously. It told me that this was someone who deserved immense respect. I think this can also feed back into the discussions parents have about which school to send their children to. The intensity of schools is perpetuated from generations past. There is often pressure on parents to send their children to schools they went to; a school can almost be a 'family school' in some ways. Someone once introduced me to their great-grandson, who was at the same preparatory school he had gone to. Along with his son and his grandson (it was also the same school I went to). And the needs of the child can be easily forgotten in these discussions. At the same time, the decisions around where to send your child, if you are lucky enough to have the means to choose, is so often about your own perception of your own class. It is about your own identity, both where you see yourself at present and your aspirations for your child. People can dream of having a son or a daughter because they might one day be wearing the uniform of this school or that school. There is certainly something very sexist about all of this. Years ago, someone brought out a beautiful book titled The Historic Schools of South Africa. It contained a grand total of 0 (for the removal of doubt 'zero') girls' schools. At an Open Day for a government girls' school recently, someone remarked to me that there was a major difference between this school and the school I had gone to. The school I went to has benefitted from old boys donating money, sometimes when they are alive and sometimes in their wills. It would appear very few girls' schools benefit in this way. The most likely reason is not that women feel weaker ties with their schools, but simply because there are probably more rich men than rich women in our society. I hope that you will comment below and let me know what you think, and if our obsession will ever change.
The South African
3 days ago
- The South African
Prince William pledges action on soldiers' housing
Prince William, the Prince of Wales, donned his camouflage and blue beret for a hands-on visit to Wattisham flying station in Suffolk. The Prince rolled up his sleeves, served bacon and sausage baps, and listened closely to the Army Air Corps' biggest gripe: poor accommodation. The Prince, now Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps, arrived in style, piloting a Wildcat Helicopter. After landing, he ducked into a camouflaged tent, simulating a mobile planning HQ. He got to grips with mission-planning tech under the watchful eye of Lance Corporal Sulabh Ale. But it was the soldiers' living conditions that stole the spotlight, according to BBC . 'I'm going to have a chat about accommodation, make sure they look at that,' William promised. He added with a grin, 'If they listen to me, that's another matter.' The Prince's easy humour broke the ice, but the issue was serious. When he asked another group about their housing, and was met with only smiles. He quipped, 'I'll take that away, a lot of smiles going on, that's all you need to say'. Staff Sergeant Megan Chasney, who's served at Wattisham for 15 years, said, 'It was fantastic to host the new Colonel-in-Chief. He said he would do his best to help improve the site's infrastructure.' She also highlighted the importance of the weekly Archer's Breakfast, not just for morale, but for remembering fallen comrades. 'It's really important to the soldiers here – some of them served with Daniel Pope on tours of Afghanistan. It's important to make sure he's not forgotten'. The Prince's visit wasn't all talk, as he handed out a King's Commendation for Valuable Service and promoted several soldiers from corporal to sergeant. He even joked with families about the challenges of military life, saying, 'Some of them might not want to see you that much – it's a mixed bag'. The Ministry of Defence has acknowledged the problem. 'For too long, many military families have lived in substandard homes. We are taking decisive action to fix the dire state of military accommodation and ensure that our heroes and their loved ones live in the homes they deserve.' They've pledged over £1.5 billion – that's about R35.4 billion – to tackle the issue. Decent housing for soldiers isn't just a British problem – it's a global one. As the Prince of Wales put it, 'I'm going to discuss accommodation, ensuring they take that into consideration.' Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
