A cargo ship transporting nearly 3,000 new vehicles to Mexico has sunk in the North Pacific Ocean weeks after being crippled by a massive onboard fire.
The Morning Midas, a 600-foot vessel operated by London-based Zodiac Maritime, went down Monday in international waters off Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, roughly 415 miles from land and in waters over 16,000 feet deep.
The incident began on June 3 when the U.S. Coast Guard received a distress alert about a fire aboard the Morning Midas, then about 300 miles southwest of Adak Island.
The fire broke out on a deck loaded with electric vehicles and quickly spread. A massive plume of smoke was visible from the stern.
The vessel was carrying approximately 3,000 new vehicles, including around 70 fully electric and 680 hybrid models, bound for a Pacific port in Mexico.
After the fire left the ship adrift and non-operational, all 22 crew members evacuated to a lifeboat and were safely rescued by a nearby merchant vessel. No injuries were reported.
Despite efforts by a salvage crew to recover the vessel, the combination of fire damage, rough weather, and flooding ultimately caused the ship to sink.
Environmental Risk Under Scrutiny
According to the Coast Guard, the Morning Midas was carrying 350 metric tons of marine gas oil and 1,530 metric tons of very low sulfur fuel oil at the time of its sinking. While no pollution has yet been observed, authorities are on high alert.
“There is no visible pollution,” said Petty Officer Cameron Snell, a spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard in Alaska. “We also have vessels on scene to respond to any pollution.”
Two salvage tugs equipped with pollution control tools remain in the area to monitor for fuel leaks or debris. Zodiac Maritime has also dispatched a specialized pollution response vessel to further assist in environmental monitoring.
Captain Christopher Culpepper, commander of Coast Guard Sector Western Alaska and the U.S. Arctic, emphasized that “the safety of the responders remains our top priority,” and added that the Coast Guard is working with Zodiac Maritime in an advisory capacity to ensure a prompt and effective environmental response.
Ship Origin and Fire Concerns Echo Earlier Disasters
The Morning Midas was built in 2006 and operated under a Liberian flag. It departed Yantai, China, on May 26 with a final destination in Mexico.
According to marinetraffic.com, the vessel had been on schedule before the emergency call was issued.
While the specific cause of the fire remains under investigation, the incident has renewed concern over transporting electric vehicles at sea.
Initial observations suggested the fire may have started on the deck loaded with EVs, echoing concerns raised in previous shipping incidents involving lithium-ion batteries.
In fact, a 2023 fire aboard a freighter transporting nearly 500 EVs in the North Sea resulted in one death and significant damage after the blaze burned for a full week.
That ship was eventually towed to a port in the Netherlands. A Dutch safety board report afterward called for significant reforms in emergency response preparedness for maritime shipping routes involving EVs.
