A cargo vessel carrying lots of of electrical and hybrid autos has caught hearth within the Pacific Ocean, with all crew members now safely rescued, the US Coast Guard (USCG) has confirmed.
The Morning Midas, a Liberian-flagged ship managed by UK-based Zodiac Maritime, caught hearth roughly 300 miles south of Alaska after smoke was noticed billowing from the vessel. The ship was carrying 681 partial hybrid electrical autos and 70 totally electrical vehicles amongst its complete cargo of three,048 autos.
All 22 crew members efficiently evacuated the burning vessel utilizing a lifeboat and had been rescued by the motor vessel Cosco Hellas, one among three Good Samaritan ships that responded to the emergency name. No accidents have been reported.
Emergency Response Coordinates Multi-Vessel Rescue Operation
The drama started on Tuesday afternoon when watchstanders on the Seventeenth Coast Guard District command centre obtained a misery alert at roughly 3:15 PM, reporting a hearth aboard the 600-foot cargo ship.
Coast Guard officers instantly issued an Pressing Marine Info Broadcast (UMIB) requesting help from close by vessels. The response was swift and complete, with three service provider ships answering the decision for assist.
‘We’re grateful for the selfless actions of the three close by vessels who assisted within the response and the crew of motor vessel Cosco Hellas, who helped save 22 lives,’ mentioned Rear Admiral Megan Dean, commander of the Coast Guard’s Seventeenth District.
The Coast Guard deployed a number of assets to the scene, together with the USCG Cutter Munro, a C-130J Tremendous Hercules plane from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak, and positioned an MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter crew in Adak.
In a separate assertion, Zodiac Maritime shared that they’ve appointed Resolve Marine, a number one salvage firm, to answer the fireplace aboard its managed car provider. The incident occurred throughout the vessel’s passage to Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico.
‘We’re happy with the diligent efforts of our crew in responding to the fireplace onboard. They instantly activated the vessel’s well-drilled emergency firefighting protocols and deployed the onboard hearth suppression techniques, all of which had been totally operational. As a result of depth of the fireplace and to prioritise crew security, the choice was made to desert the vessel,’ the assertion mentioned.
All crew members had been safely evacuated with out damage by way of one of many vessel’s two lifeboats and had been subsequently rescued by the crew of the Cosco Hellas. A primary tug carrying a staff of salvage specialists and specialised tools has already been mobilised and is anticipated to reach on the scene on roughly 9 June.
There it can assess the vessel’s situation and supply crucial assist. An extra fire-fighting tug, able to ocean towage, can be being organized to offer additional assist.
Following the crew’s evacuation and till salvage tugs arrive on scene, Zodiac Maritime continues to observe the Morning Midas by way of its onboard satellite-connected techniques. Whereas this permits for monitoring the vessel’s location, the power to observe different onboard situations is restricted.
Zodiac Maritime has prolonged its honest appreciation to the U.S. Coast Guard for all its continued assist throughout and following the incident.
COAST GUARD, ZODIAC RECOVERY EFFORTS
Coast Guard officers are working intently with Zodiac Maritime to coordinate restoration efforts and assess the environmental affect.
The Morning Midas, a 4,800-tonne vessel inbuilt 2006 by China’s Xiamen Shipbuilding Trade, departed from China’s Yantai port on 26 Might and was sure for Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico, in response to London Inventory Alternate information.
Maritime specialists emphasise that fires involving electrical autos current distinctive challenges at sea because of the intense warmth generated and the chance of reignition, which may persist for a number of days.
In 2022, a ship carrying 4,000 luxurious vehicles, together with Porsches and Bentleys, sank off the Portuguese Azores archipelago almost two weeks after it caught hearth.
Rising Considerations Over Electrical Car Transportation Security
This incident highlights rising considerations inside the maritime insurance coverage business about transporting electrical autos internationally’s oceans. Fires aboard vessels reached their highest degree in a decade throughout 2024, in response to insurer Allianz Business.
The confined atmosphere of car-carrying vessels creates notably harmful situations when fires get away. Restricted air flow can quickly intensify warmth, while the steel-lined areas make hearth suppression and rescue operations considerably extra perilous.
Fires onboard vessels, notably on container ships, automobile carriers and roll-on/roll-off ships are an enormous concern for insurers.
‘The fact is the chance stays vital because of the measurement of those ships and the complexities concerned in firefighting and salvage,’ Allianz mentioned in its 2025 security and transport assessment report.
Electrical car fires burn hotter and longer than typical automobile fires, typically requiring as much as 8,000 gallons of water to chill lithium-ion batteries. The flames can speed up by means of chain reactions in a course of known as thermal runaway, doubtlessly spiralling uncontrolled quickly.
The investigation into the Morning Midas incident continues, with authorities working to find out the precise reason behind the fireplace and its development. The nationalities of the rescued crew members haven’t been disclosed pending notification of their households.
This text has been up to date after the preliminary report that Morning Midas has sunk. In keeping with its maritime firm, they’re intently monitoring the vessel which stays afloat and based mostly on the latest pictures obtained from a Coast Guard overflight, stays alight with smoke. There have been no experiences of air pollution to the water to date.
