Fire onboard cargo ship carrying 3000 cars / 800 EVs led to evacuation of 22 crew members 500 kms off Alaskan coast
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A fire started June 3rd aboard the cargo ship Morning Midas, a vehicle carrier while it was traveling across the Pacific Ocean. The fire originated on a deck carrying electric vehicles, prompting emergency firefighting efforts.
Despite the crew's attempts to contain the fire using onboard suppression systems, the situation escalated, leading to the evacuation of all 22 crew members via lifeboats, following consultation with the US Coast Guard.
(The cover photo is not from this incident but from an earlier 2022 ship fire).
Photo Credit: The Felicity Ace, carrying 4000 vehicles sank outside of the Azore Islands in 2022 after a fire which is believed to have started in an EV. Photo by the Portuguese Coast Guard.
According to Lloyd's List, the incident occurred at around midnight UCT on June 3.
According to Yahoo Fiance, the 600 foot (182 meter) carrier-ship was around 300 miles / 480 kms off the coast of Alaska when it was evacuated.
According to the Italian site Trasporto Europa, the ship has been adrift in the Pacific since 3 June 2025, referencing a statement from the ship's management company Zodiac Maritime.
Of the 3000 vehicles on board, the owner, Zodiac Maritime, told Automotive News that the Morning Midas was carrying about 800 electric vehicles, though the manufacturer of these vehicles was not yet known.
According to Reuters, the Coast Guard said aircrew and a cutter ship have been sent to assist with the situation and three vessels were already on the scene.
The ship was en route from Yantai, China, to Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico when the incident occurred.
The U.S. Coast Guard assisted in the evacuation, transferring the crew to a nearby merchant vessel.
This incident highlights ongoing concerns about the risks associated with transporting electric vehicles by sea, as lithium-ion battery fires on board can be challenging to extinguish.
In recent years, there has been increasing scrutiny on the transportation of electric vehicles with lithium-ion batteries, as they have been linked to multiple total loss incidents involving vehicle carriers. However, according to an article Lloyds List, no incident to date has been definitively attributed to electric vehicles as the cause.
However, in 2022, the Felicity Ace, a cargo ship carrying 4,000 vehicles caught fire in the Atlantic and later sank. According to Reuters, that fire was blamed on one of the EV batteries.