Morning Midas Sinks After EV Fire off Alaska, Prompting Maritime Safety Review
In early June, the 600‑foot car carrier Morning Midas, sailing under the Liberian flag, departed Yantai, China en route to Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico, with roughly 3,048 vehicles aboard. Of these, about 70 were fully electric and around 681 were hybrids.
At approximately midnight UTC on June 3, crew members reported smoke emanating from the stern deck, where EVs were stored. Despite activating onboard fire suppression systems, they were unable to control the blaze . All 22 crew members safely abandoned the ship and were later rescued by the container vessel Cosco Hellas, with no injuries reported.
Salvage operations were immediately mobilized, with tugs such as Gretchen Dunlap arriving days later and additional vessels—including two equipped for firefighting and ocean towage—joining the effort. U.S. Coast Guard overflights confirmed that while smoke continued to rise from the vessel, there were no visible signs of pollution in surrounding waters. The ship carried approximately 350 metric tonnes of marine gas oil and 1,530 metric tonnes of very low-sulfur fuel oil.
On June 23 at approximately 16:35 (UTC‑9), Morning Midas succumbed to fire damage, adverse weather, and water ingress, sinking in international waters about 360 nautical miles southwest of Adak, Alaska. It is estimated to have settled at a depth of roughly 5,000 meters.
Authorities continue to monitor the site. The U.S. Coast Guard has stationed salvage vessels and a pollution-response ship in the area; no visible oil spills have been detected thus far.
This high-profile incident underscores persistent concerns over the risk posed by lithium-ion batteries on cargo ships. Once ignited, EV battery fires are notoriously difficult to extinguish and prone to reignition, as seen in previous maritime disasters involving battery-powered vehicles. With global EV transport rapidly increasing, industry observers are now calling for enhanced regulations, such as updated fire suppression systems, revised vehicle storage spacing, and standardized protocols for battery state-of-charge during shipping.
Aviation and maritime regulators, including the International Maritime Organization, are expected to review current standards in light of this incident, to establish more robust safety frameworks for electric-vehicle transport by sea.
Investigations will focus on the fire’s origin—such as battery thermal runaway or mechanical fault—and whether existing suppression systems were adequate. Environmental agencies will continue monitoring for fuel or debris leakage from the sunken vessel. Meanwhile, stakeholders anticipate new policy measures to ensure that ship designs and cargo operations evolve alongside the electrification of the global automotive fleet.
