According to British media reports on the 4th, the U.S. Coast Guard is dealing with a fire on a 600-foot (about 183 meters) car transport ship "Morning Midas" in the Pacific Ocean. The ship carries hundreds of electric vehicles about 300 miles (about 483 kilometers) off the coast of Alaska.
The ship departed at the end of May and was originally expected to arrive at the port of Lhasa Rocdenas, Mexico on June 15. The 2006-built "Morning Midas" is owned by London-based Hawthorn Navigation Inc and is managed by Zodiac Maritime, according to data from shipping database Equasis. The ship is built for transport vehicles and trucks and can transport up to 6,000 vehicles.
Zodiac Maritime has confirmed that The ship carried about 3,000 cars at the time of the incident, of which 800 were electric vehicles, and all 22 crew members were not injured or killed. The ship had been abandoned and was safely transferred.
It is reported that the fire occurred on the 3rd local time. The company statement said that smoke was initially seen rising from a deck, "the crew immediately activated the onboard fire extinguishing system for emergency fire extinguishing, but despite their best efforts, the situation was not under control. In consultation with the U.S. Coast Guard, all 22 crew members were safely evacuated through lifeboats and were transferred to a nearby merchant ship. We have notified the relevant departments that they are working closely with emergency personnel and deploying tugs to support salvage and fire extinguishing operations. Our priority is to ensure the continued safety of the crew and protect the marine environment."
The U.S. Coast Guard said that it had sent three rescue vessels to rescue personnel, and the progress was smooth, and the large cutting ship needed to deal with the fire scene was on its way to the scene. At present, the fire on the ship has not been extinguished. Generally speaking, ship fires associated with electric vehicles are difficult to extinguish and are at risk of rekindling, which often last for days.
It is not clear what brand of car was carrying in the accident. It is reported that in 2022, a ship carrying 4,000 luxury cars including Porsche and Bentley caught fire near the Azores in Portugal, and the ship sank after nearly two weeks of burning.
The fire problem of automobile transport ships is a very concern to insurance companies. According to Allianz Commercial Insurance, fire accidents in all ship categories reached their highest level in a decade in 2024. "The reality is that the risk of underwriting remains high due to the large scale of these ships and the complexity of fire extinguishing and salvage."
Source: Red Star News
