Cargo Ship Carrying Electric Vehicles Burns Off Alaska
A fire on a cargo ship carrying electric vehicles that contain highly flammable lithium-ion batteries was burning off Alaska's coast on Wednesday night, more than 24 hours after it broke out, the U.S. Coast Guard and the ship's manager said.
A deck carrying electric vehicles began smoking on Tuesday afternoon when the ship, the Morning Midas, was approximately 1,200 miles from Anchorage, according to its manager, Zodiac Maritime. The crew, unable to contain it, sent a distress alert 15 minutes later, the London-based shipping company said in a statement.
All 22 crew members left the 600-foot ship on a lifeboat and were rescued by a nearby commercial vessel, the Coast Guard said in a statement.
A spokeswoman for the Coast Guard said that it was allowing the fire to burn out and watching from a safe distance because of the risk that lithium-ion batteries in the cars could explode.
The agency plans to investigate the cause of the fire, said the spokeswoman, Petty Officer First Class Shannon Kearney of the Coast Guard's 17th District in Alaska. She said it was too soon to conclude that the fire started from the electric vehicles.
Electric vehicles contain lithium-ion batteries that can overheat and cause fires that spread rapidly and produce toxic gases, making them difficult and dangerous to extinguish.
The Morning Midas was carrying 3,000 cars, including 800 electric vehicles, and had been expected to arrive at Lázaro Cárdenas in Mexico on June 15, according to Zodiac.
The ship left Yantai, China, on May 26, and stopped at Shanghai and Nansha, two major hubs for Chinese electric vehicle exports, before setting off across the Pacific, according to Maritime Optima, a shipping data provider based in Norway.
Imports from China dominate the electric vehicle market in Latin America. More than 60 percent of electric vehicles sold in Mexico in 2023 and 2024 were from China, according to the International Energy Agency.
The dangers of battery fires can be greater at sea, where saltwater could corrode the materials covering a battery and ignite a larger flame.
In 2022, the Felicity Ace, a car carrier slightly larger than Morning Midas, sank in the Atlantic Ocean along with around 4,000 vehicles — including Bentleys and Porsches — after a fire onboard burned for nearly two weeks.
Lithium-ion batteries also pose risks to air travel. In recent months, Southwest Airlines and several carriers in Asia have tightened in-flight restrictions on the use and transport of the batteries. The bans in Asia went into effect after a fire destroyed a passenger jet at an airport in South Korea in January.
There is no definitive link between portable batteries and that fire, and an investigation is underway.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
2 hours ago
- CBS News
4-alarm fire in San Francisco's Inner Richmond damages homes overnight, over 30 displaced
A four-alarm fire in San Francisco's Inner Richmond neighborhood early Friday morning has damaged several homes and displaced more than 30 people, firefighters said. Shortly after 1:50 a.m., firefighters were called to the 500 block of 5th Avenue, between Balboa and Anza streets. The fire, which grew to four-alarms, involved five 3-story multi residential dwellings. More than 130 firefighters responded to the fire, which was put under control around 4:30 a.m. BREAKING 4-ALARM FIRE 500 BLOCK OF 5TH AVE AT BALBOA AND ANZA The San Francisco Fire Department is currently responding to an active 4-alarm structure fire, and over 130 San Francisco firefighters are on the scene. This fire involves three, 3-story multi-residential… — SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT MEDIA (@SFFDPIO) June 6, 2025 Firefighters said at least 35 people were displaced as a result of the fire. The American Red Cross is on scene assisting the affected residents. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Washington Post
2 hours ago
- Washington Post
Salvage crew bound for the site of a cargo ship fire off the coast of Alaska
JUNEAU, Alaska — A salvage team is expected to arrive early next week at the scene of a cargo ship that was carrying about 3,000 vehicles to Mexico when it caught fire in waters off Alaska's Aleutian island chain. A tug carrying salvage specialists and special equipment is expected to arrive at the location of the Morning Midas around Monday, the ship's management company, London-based Zodiac Maritime, said Thursday. The crew will assess the ship's condition, and a separate tug with firefighting and ocean towage capabilities is being arranged, the company said in its statement. In the meantime, officials are using the ship's onboard satellite-connected systems to monitor it.
Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Salvage crew bound for the site of a cargo ship fire off the coast of Alaska
JUNEAU, Alaska — A salvage team is expected to arrive early next week at the scene of a cargo ship that was carrying about 3,000 vehicles to Mexico when it caught fire in waters off Alaska's Aleutian island chain. A tug carrying salvage specialists and special equipment is expected to arrive at the location of the Morning Midas around Monday, the ship's management company, London-based Zodiac Maritime, said Thursday. The crew will assess the ship's condition, and a separate tug with firefighting and ocean towage capabilities is being arranged, the company said in its statement. In the meantime, officials are using the ship's onboard satellite-connected systems to monitor it. The vessel remained afloat as of Thursday morning, and images gathered by the U.S. Coast Guard showed it was still 'alight with smoke emanating' from it, the statement said. The Coast Guard has said it received a distress alert around 3:15 p.m. Tuesday about a fire aboard the Morning Midas, which was roughly 300 miles southwest of Adak Island. The ship was carrying about 70 fully electric and about 680 hybrid vehicles, the Coast Guard said, noting that the information was preliminary. Adak is about 1,200 miles west of Anchorage, Alaska's largest city. All 22 Morning Midas crew members were uninjured. They were evacuated onto a lifeboat and a nearby merchant vessel rescued them. They remained onboard the rescue vessel Thursday, according to Zodiac Maritime. The 600-foot Morning Midas was built in 2006 and sails under a Liberian flag. The car and truck carrier left Yantai, China, on May 26, according to the industry site It was headed to a major Pacific port in Mexico. A Dutch safety board in a recent report called for improving emergency response on North Sea shipping routes after a deadly 2023 fire aboard a freighter that was carrying 3,000 automobiles, including nearly 500 electric vehicles, from Germany to Singapore. One person was killed and others injured in the fire, which burned out of control for a week. That ship was eventually towed to a Netherlands port for salvage.
