Cargo Ship Carrying 3,000 Vehicles, Including 800 EVs, Burning Out of Control Off the Coast of Alaska

FAA, via, File

A cargo ship carrying 3,000 cars, including 800 electric vehicles, caught fire off the coast of Alaska and continues to burn. The Coast Guard says that all 22 crew members escaped the ship and were picked up by two nearby freighters.

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The ship, a Liberian-registered car-carrier named "Morning Midas," was on its way to Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico, from Yantai, China, having left on May 26.

It appears the fire may have started in one or more of the lithium-ion batteries that power the EVs. What's certain is that the Coast Guard is going to let the ship burn, since trying to put out a lithium-ion fire is nearly futile.   

“The relevant authorities have been notified, and we are working closely with emergency responders with a tug being deployed to support salvage and firefighting operations,” Zodiac Maritime, the ship's management company, said in a statement. “Our priorities are to ensure the continued safety of the crew and protect the marine environment.”

The potential environmental damage from the fire could be catastrophic. 

New York Times:

The dangers of battery fires can be greater at sea, where saltwater could corrode the materials covering a battery and ignite a larger flame.

In 2022, the Felicity Ace, a car carrier slightly larger than Morning Midas, sank in the Atlantic Ocean along with around 4,000 vehicles — including Bentleys and Porsches — after a fire onboard burned for nearly two weeks.

Lithium-ion batteries also pose risks to air travel. In recent months, Southwest Airlines and several carriers in Asia have tightened in-flight restrictions on the use and transport of the batteries. The bans in Asia went into effect after a fire destroyed a passenger jet at an airport in South Korea in January.

There is no definitive link between portable batteries and that fire, and an investigation is underway.

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The Morning Midas has now been abandoned and left to burn itself out. The Coast Guard can't fight the fire because throwing water on a burning lithium-ion battery is like igniting a large bomb. 

Depending on how the fire is burning, including its oxygen supply and the number of batteries that catch fire, it may take weeks for the fire to burn itself out. Tug boats are four days away.

It's hoped that the fire burns itself out before the lithium-ion batteries' outgassing corrodes the hull of the Morning Midas, opening holes that would cause the vessel to sink. This is unlikely, but it's a possibility that the Coast Guard is preparing for. 

If lithium-ion batteries weren't powering vehicles that are supposed to save the planet from climate change, they would not be in such widespread use. Perhaps we can find another power source to save the planet that isn't so hard to put out if it burns, doesn't let off toxic gases when it's on fire, and can be manufactured in the United States.

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Is that too much to ask? 

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