Car carrier up in flames

A ship transporting about 3,000 vehicles to Mexico has been abandoned in the Pacific Ocean after catching fire.

Smoke was first seen coming from a deck of the Morning Midas, its manager Zodiac Maritime says. The crew initiated firefighting procedures but the blaze couldn’t be brought under control.

The US Coast Guard later evacuated all 22 crew members onto a nearby merchant ship.

“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,” says Rear Admiral Megan Dean, commander of the US Coast Guard’s 17th district. 

“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.”

The 46,800-tonne Morning Midas, which was built in 2006 by Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry Co, departed the Chinese port of Yantai on May 26.

It had previously called at two other ports, Nansha in the south and Shanghai, before the fire started at sea on June 3.

It’s believed to have about 800 EVs on-board and it’s unclear what brand of vehicles the vessel is carrying.

In recent years, there have been a handful of major fires involving vessels hauling EVs, prompting concerns their batteries can catch light.

The Felicity Ace sank with 4,000 Volkswagen Group vehicles in March 2022 despite efforts to tow it to safety after a blaze started about two weeks earlier.

Shipowners have taken steps to try to manage the safety risks involved in transporting EVs.

Fires involving EVs are often harder to extinguish. The conditions of a tightly packed car carrier can lead to limited ventilation, which can intensify heat. The steel-lined environment makes fire suppression and rescues more dangerous.

When an EV burns, it does so for longer and the fire gets hotter. The flames can end up accelerating through chain reaction and can spiral out of control quickly.