Crew aboard car carrier Morning Midas is compelled to abandon ship due to a massive blaze
The car and truck carrier Morning Midas, managed by Zodiac Maritime, has been engulfed in a fire since June 3, approximately 480km south of Adak Island, part of Alaska. The vessel, which was under charter by SAIC Anji Logistics, was en route from Yantai port in China to the Mexican port of Lázaro Cárdenas when the blaze was first noticed.
The fire on board the Morning Midas has been burning for over a week, with more than 3,000 vehicles, including nearly 800 battery electric and hybrid units, involved. Tragically, five crew members lost their lives in the incident, and the cause of the fire remains unknown.
Zodiac Maritime is working closely with emergency responders and the Coast Guard to determine the disposition of the Morning Midas. A tug has been deployed to support salvage and firefighting operations, and two additional tugs with firefighting and long-distance towing capabilities are on their way.
Spill response assets are on standby, as per the environmental pollution control plan, due to concerns about potential pollution from the burning vehicles. However, Zodiac Maritime has stated that there are no signs of pollution from the Morning Midas, but an environmental pollution control plan has been developed by Resolve Marine.
This is not the first incident involving car and truck carriers transporting battery EVs and hybrids that have caught fire. Previous examples include the MOL vessel Felicity Ace in February 2022 and the MOL vessel Sincerity Ace in December 2018. In the case of the Sincerity Ace, another MOL vessel, the fire continued to burn for several days, and the cause of the fire remains unknown.
Lithium-ion batteries used to power EVs can burn with high intensity if they are damaged due to thermal runaway. To prevent such incidents, companies like Hyundai Glovis use a combination of periodic temperature monitoring, heat/smoke detectors, CCTV, onboard fire cover, and water mist lance technology to quickly contain any fire that is detected.
Rear admiral Megan Dean, commander of the Coast Guard’s Seventeenth District, has stated that the search and rescue portion of the response to the Morning Midas incident has concluded. The 22 crew members on board the Morning Midas were forced to abandon the vessel using a lifeboat and were safely picked up by the containership Cosco Hellas. Three nearby vessels assisted in the response, and the crew of the Cosco Hellas helped save 22 lives.
The company chartering the injured ship, MISC Berhad, has been notified about the fire on the Morning Midas. MOL, the owner of the Sincerity Ace which also caught fire in 2018, later filed a lawsuit against Porsche (part of the VW Group) blaming the fire on an EV battery in the car.
As of June 9, the Morning Midas is still on fire, and efforts to extinguish the blaze continue. The incident serves as a reminder of the potential risks associated with the transportation of battery-powered vehicles and the importance of safety measures and emergency response plans.
