A cargo ship carrying around 3,000 vehicles, including 800 electric vehicles, caught fire off the coast of Alaska June 3, causing its crew to be evacuated – its operator Zodiac Maritime confirmed in a statement to USA TODAY.
The 22 crew members on the Morning Midas were abandoned the ship after they failed to put out the fire, Zodiac said in the June 4 statement.
Zodiac said that there were no injuries to crew members, who were evacuated via lifeboat and transferred to a nearby merchant vessel in tandem with the U.S. Coast Guard.
USA TODAY reached out to the Guard for comment on the incident Wednesday afternoon but did not receive an immediate response.
Smoke was initially seen rising from a deck carrying electric vehicles, the company said. Zodiac did not disclose what specific models the vessel was carrying in its statement.
"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," the statement reads.
The Liberian-flagged ship was located 300 miles southwest of Adak, Alaska, the Coast Guard said on its X account, and had left China's Yantai port on May 26 with a final destination of Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico, according to LSEG data.
EV-related fires on ships are challenging to extinguish due to the heat generated and risk of reignition, which could persist for days.
In 2022, a ship carrying 4,000 luxury cars, including Porsches and Bentleys, sank off the Portuguese Azores archipelago nearly two weeks after it caught fire.
Fires onboard vessels, particularly on container ships, car carriers and roll-on/roll-off ships are a big concern for insurers.
Such incidents across all vessel segments hit the highest level in a decade in 2024, according to insurer Allianz Commercial.
"The reality is the risk remains significant due to the size of these ships and the complexities involved in firefighting and salvage," Allianz said in its 2025 safety and shipping review report.
This story has been updated with new information.
Contributing: Reuters
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