Electric Vehicles Abandoned in Pacific Ocean After Cargo Ship Fire

A salvage team is en route to a cargo ship carrying almost 3,000 vehicles that was abandoned in the Pacific Ocean after a fire broke out earlier this week off Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.

The 600-foot Morning Midas remains adrift approximately 300 miles southwest of Adak Island, according to the US Coast Guard, which is continuing to monitor the situation via satellite. 

Photographs show the vessel still smoking hundreds of miles from the nearest coastline days after the initial distress signal was received. Thick columns of smoke can be seen billowing into the sky.

Incredibly, all 22 crew members were safely evacuated onto a lifeboat on Tuesday afternoon and later rescued by a nearby merchant vessel. 

They remained aboard the rescue ship as of Thursday, the vessel’s management company, London-based Zodiac Maritime, said.

The fire was first reported around 3:15pm on Tuesday as the ship was transporting an around 70 high-powered fully electric vehicles and about 680 hybrids, in addition to a broader cargo of vehicles bound for a major Pacific port in Mexico. 

The ship had departed Yantai, China, on May 26. The Coast Guard noted that the vehicle figures remain preliminary as the situation develops.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation but lithium-ion batteries, widely used in electric vehicles, are known to present firefighting challenges due to their high combustibility once ignited.

Smoke rises from a fire aboard the cargo vessel Morning Midas, carrying around 3,000 cars, including 800 electric vehicles, as seen in an aerial photo taken from a US Coast Guard plane 

Incredibly, all 22 crew members were safely evacuated onto a lifeboat on Tuesday afternoon and later rescued by a nearby merchant vessel 

Lithium fires burn hot, long, and are notoriously difficult to extinguish. 

A tugboat carrying salvage specialists and firefighting equipment is expected to reach the Morning Midas early next week, Zodiac Maritime said. 

A second tug, with enhanced ocean towage capabilities, is also being arranged to assist with the operation. 

For now, officials are relying on the adrift ship’s satellite systems to track its condition remotely.

The Morning Midas was built in 2006 and is registered under a Liberian flag.

Environmental concerns are being closely monitored. Experts warn that if the fire spreads to fuel tanks or causes structural failure, the vessel could leak toxic chemicals or even sink, creating a long-term environmental hazard.

Fires involving electric vehicles can present unique hazards if not contained, raising the risk of structural compromise or hazardous material being released into the ocean.

The cargo vessel Morning Midas is drifting approximately 300 miles south of Adak, Alaska

The 22 strong crew of the cargo ship carrying about 3,000 vehicles to Mexico were forced to abandoned ship after they could not control a fire that broke out on board

The incident has drawn comparisons to a 2023 fire aboard another car carrier, which was transporting around 3,000 vehicles, including nearly 500 electric cars, from Germany to Singapore. 

That fire burned for a week, resulting in one death and multiple injuries, before the ship was eventually towed to port in the Netherlands. 

Following that incident, Dutch safety authorities called for improvements in emergency response protocols for ships carrying electric vehicles.