A cargo ship according to The NewYork Times that caught fire earlier this month while carrying more than 2,700 vehicles, including electric and hybrid models, sank Monday in the North Pacific, raising concerns about environmental damage and maritime safety in the transport of battery-powered cars.
The Morning Midas, a 600-foot car carrier operated by London-based Zodiac Maritime, went down roughly 360 nautical miles off Alaska’s coast after sustaining severe structural damage from a fire that burned for nearly three weeks and was compounded by rough seas. No crew members were injured; all 22 people aboard evacuated safely on June 3 and were rescued by a nearby commercial vessel.
The vessel had been en route from China to Mexico when smoke was first reported on a deck loaded with electric vehicles. The cause of the fire remains unknown, though lithium-ion batteries, which power EVs, are known to pose heightened fire risks that are difficult to contain at sea.
The U.S. Coast Guard said the ship had 70 electric vehicles, 681 hybrids, and over 2,000 gasoline-powered vehicles in its hold, along with more than 1,800 metric tons of fuel oil. While no pollution was visible at the site as of Tuesday, federal officials and salvage crews are continuing to monitor the area.
Two tugs remain on-site, and another support vessel is en route to help contain any potential oil release or debris, Zodiac Maritime said in a statement. None of the cargo was salvaged before the vessel sank.
The ship’s fire, first reported on June 3 about 1,200 miles from Anchorage, is the latest in a string of maritime incidents involving electric vehicle transport. Fires involving lithium-ion batteries are notoriously difficult to extinguish and can reignite after being put out, complicating salvage operations. According to experts, even a single damaged battery can initiate a chain reaction known as thermal runaway, which spreads rapidly through a ship’s cargo deck.
Liberia, whose flag the Morning Midas was sailing under, will lead the formal investigation. Zodiac Maritime has also initiated its own inquiry, while U.S. authorities are expected to monitor the environmental fallout and safety implications.
The Morning Midas joins a growing list of vessels lost under similar conditions. In 2022, the Felicity Ace, another car carrier carrying electric vehicles, sank off the Azores after a fire of similar origin. That loss prompted renewed scrutiny of the risks associated with transporting battery-powered cargo at sea, scrutiny that is likely to intensify following this latest incident.
For now, the sea remains calm above the Morning Midas’ final resting place. What lies below thousands of vehicles, tons of oil, and potentially hazardous battery materials, leaves open questions about long-term environmental impacts and the evolving challenges of maritime transport in an electrifying world.
