Latest news with #FremantleHighway
NZ Autocar
2 days ago
- Automotive
- NZ Autocar
Another ship up in smoke with EVs blamed
A ship carrying a mix of cars has been abandoned in the Pacific Ocean, after fire broke out. It has burnt out of control for at least a week, with authorities unable to rescue the stricken vessel. The Morning Midas was carrying 3000 cars from China to Mexico when it caught fire about 450km southwest of Alaska. On board were 70 fully electric cars and 861 hybrids. Evidently, the fire broke out on one of the decks carrying the EVs. The US Coast Guard Alaska Division received a distress call at around 3.15pm last Tuesday. The crew of the Morning Midas were unable to get the fire under control so the US Coast Guard advised them to abandon ship. All 22 crew were flown to safety after being rescued by a nearby ship. Salvage operators appointed by the ship's owner, Zodiac Marine, are not expected to reach the vessel until today, almost a week after the fire took hold. Zodiac Marine said a tug heading to the ship 'will assess the vessel's condition and provide necessary support. An additional fire-fighting tug, capable of ocean towage, is also being arranged.' The incident has underlined the safety issues with transporting electric vehicles whose lithium-ion batteries can catch fire. Such fires are hard to extinguish, sometimes burning for a fortnight. All of the ship's fire suppression systems were 'fully operational' at the time of the incident. However the crew were unable to bring the fire under control. They were rescued by the nearby vessel Cosco Hellas after taking to lifeboats. The current status of the ship is unknown. Vehicles aboard the ship were bound for Mexico. The 46,800 tonne Morning Midas left the Chinese port of Yantai on May 6. 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. That vessel capsized and sank with a full load of luxury vehicles aboard, including 1100 Porsches. Electric vehicle fires are notoriously difficult to put out. Thermal runaway fires involving electric cars cannot be stopped by conventional means. Following the Felicity Ace fire, Australian vehicle importer Neville Crichton said he had no doubt the incidents would drive up the retail price of vehicles, as insurance companies had dramatically increased the cost of coverage for cars at sea.
The Independent
22-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
Dutch safety board calls for urgent improvements after deadly North Sea cargo ship blaze
Protocols for responding to emergencies on busy North Sea shipping routes off the Dutch coast must be urgently improved, an independent Dutch safety watchdog said Thursday in a report into a deadly blaze on a cargo ship. The warning by the Dutch Safety Board came in its report about emergency services' response to a fierce fire that broke out on the night of July 25, 2023, on the Fremantle Highway freighter that was carrying nearly 3,000 automobiles, including nearly 500 electric vehicles, from Germany to Singapore. One of the 23 people on board was killed and six others were injured after jumping overboard to escape smoke churning out of the ship's cargo hold about 27 kilometers (17 miles) north of the Dutch island of Ameland. The remaining 16 people were rescued using helicopters. During the mission by Dutch maritime rescuers, 'the focus for too long was on firefighting instead of saving the crew,' the report said. It added that poor information sharing between different rescuers and emergency services on land meant authorities were not fully prepared when 16 survivors who also required medical help were flown to shore, causing delays in transferring them to hospitals. 'In order to be well prepared for future incidents at sea, the emergency assistance system must be put in order as soon as possible. Various improvements are needed for this, both at the Coastguard and at the relevant safety regions,' the report said in recommendations to the government. The Dutch report did not look into or comment on the cause of the fire. Maritime authorities in Panama were investigating the cause because the ship was flying under a Panamanian flag. The fire burned out of control for a week as the stricken freighter floated near shipping lanes and the shallow Wadden Sea, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed migratory bird habitat. It was eventually towed to a port in the northern Netherlands for salvage.
Associated Press
22-05-2025
- General
- Associated Press
Dutch safety board calls for urgent improvements after deadly North Sea cargo ship blaze
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Protocols for responding to emergencies on busy North Sea shipping routes off the Dutch coast must be urgently improved, an independent Dutch safety watchdog said Thursday in a report into a deadly blaze on a cargo ship. The warning by the Dutch Safety Board came in its report about emergency services' response to a fierce fire that broke out on the night of July 25, 2023, on the Fremantle Highway freighter that was carrying nearly 3,000 automobiles, including nearly 500 electric vehicles, from Germany to Singapore. One of the 23 people on board was killed and six others were injured after jumping overboard to escape smoke churning out of the ship's cargo hold about 27 kilometers (17 miles) north of the Dutch island of Ameland. The remaining 16 people were rescued using helicopters. During the mission by Dutch maritime rescuers, 'the focus for too long was on firefighting instead of saving the crew,' the report said. It added that poor information sharing between different rescuers and emergency services on land meant authorities were not fully prepared when 16 survivors who also required medical help were flown to shore, causing delays in transferring them to hospitals. 'In order to be well prepared for future incidents at sea, the emergency assistance system must be put in order as soon as possible. Various improvements are needed for this, both at the Coastguard and at the relevant safety regions,' the report said in recommendations to the government. The Dutch report did not look into or comment on the cause of the fire. Maritime authorities in Panama were investigating the cause because the ship was flying under a Panamanian flag. The fire burned out of control for a week as the stricken freighter floated near shipping lanes and the shallow Wadden Sea, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed migratory bird habitat. It was eventually towed to a port in the northern Netherlands for salvage.
