4 days ago
Crew abandons EV ship inferno
A cargo ship carrying around 3000 cars has been abandoned in the Pacific Ocean and left to burn.
The Morning Midas was carrying around 800 electric vehicles from China en route to Mexico when it caught fire about 450km south of Alaska.
The US Coast Guard Alaska Division was called to the scene of the unfolding 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.
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.
The current status of the ship is unknown with the US Coast Guard last witnessing smoke pouring out of the ship.
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'As the search and rescue portion of our response concludes, our crews are working closely with the vessel's parent company, Zodiac Maritime, to determine the disposition of the vessel,' said Rear Admiral Megan Dean, commander of the Coast Guard's Seventeenth District.
'We are grateful for the selfless actions of the three nearby vessels who assisted in the response and the crew of motor vessel Cosco Hellas, who helped save 22 lives.'
The 46,800 tone Morning Midas, which flies under the Liberia flag, was built by the Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry Co, in 2006, The Seattle Times reported.
It left the Chinese port of Yantai on May 6, according to Bloomberg. It was en route to Lazaro Cardenas in Mexico.
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.
Electric vehicle fires are notoriously difficult to put out.
Porsche spokesman Björn Förster said in 2024 that 'thermal runaway' fires involving electric cars cannot be stopped by conventional means.
'When the car is burning, it will be burning for two weeks,' he said.
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.
