Abandoned ship inferno ‘to burn for a week

A giant ship abandoned in the Pacific Ocean, will continue to burn out of control for at least a week, as authorities struggle to rescue the stricken vessel.

A cargo ship abandoned in the Pacific Ocean, will continue to burn out of control for at least a week, as authorities struggle to rescue the stricken vessel.

The Morning Midas was carrying around 3000 cars en route from China to Mexico when it caught fire about 450km southwest of Alaska’s Adak Island.

The ship was ferrying 3.048 cars, 70 of which are fully electric and 861 are hybrid vehicles.

According to unconfirmed reports, the fire broke out on one of the decks carrying the EVs.

The US Coast Guard Alaska Division was called to the scene of the 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.

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Smoke rises from cargo vessel Morning Midas. Picture: U.S. Coast Guard.

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.

As the ship continues to burn, salvage operators appointed by the ship’s owner Zodiac Marine, are not expected to reach the vessel, until ‘approximately June 9’ which means it will have been on fire for a week by then.

“A first tug carrying a team of salvage specialists and specialised equipment has already been mobilised and is expected to arrive at the scene on approximately 9 June,” Zodiac Marine said in a statement.

“There it will assess the vessel’s condition and provide necessary support. An additional fire-fighting tug, capable of ocean towage, is also being arranged to provide further support.”

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.

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Cars wait to be loaded on to a ship at the port in Yantai, in China’s eastern Shandong province. Picture: AFP

The fire is said to have taken root on one of the under decks carrying the electric vehicles.

Zodiac praised its crews efforts to fight the fire and said all of its fire suppression systems were ‘fully operational’ at the time of the inciden

However the Morning Midas’ crew couldn’t get the fire under control and the decision was made to abandon ship.

The crew were evacuated into two lifeboats and rescue by the nearby vessel Cosco Hellas.

“Due to the intensity of the fire and to prioritise crew safety, the decision was made to abandon the vessel,” Zodiac said.“We are grateful to the crew of the Cosco Hellas for their swift assistance.

The incident happened about 1000 nautical miles from where the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound in 1989, which was then one of the world’s worst environmental disaters.

Crude oil from the tanker Exxon Valdez swirls on the surface of Alaska's Prince William Sound near Naked Island in April 1989.

“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.

STATUS UNKNOWN

The current status of the ship is unknown with the US Coast Guard last witnessing smoke pouring out of the ship.

“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.”

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In this photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, smoke rises from cargo vessel Morning Midas approximately 300 miles south of Adak, Alaska, June 3, 2025, as the crew of a cargo ship carrying about 3,000 vehicles to Mexico, abandoned ship after they could not control a fire. (U.S. Coast Guard/Courtesy of Air Station Kodiak via AP)

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The crew members abandoned ship.

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.

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The Fremantle Highway on fire. Picture: AFP

DANGERS OF FERRYING EVS, HYBRIDS

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.

Felicity Ace car carrier on fire. Picture: Marinha Portuguesa

The merchant ship Felicity Ace adrift after a fire broke out on board. Picture: AFP

“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.

Originally published as Abandoned ship inferno ‘to burn for a week