Morning Midas Sinks in North Pacific After Catastrophic Fire
So, here’s the story that’s making waves—literally and figuratively. A massive cargo ship named Morning Midas , which had been carrying around 3,000 brand-new vehicles, has sunk in the North Pacific Ocean, weeks after catching fire off the coast of Alaska. It’s one of those maritime incidents that leaves you asking: how does something this big just go down?
Let me walk you through it. The Morning Midas was on a routine voyage from Yantai, China, heading toward a Pacific port in Mexico. Everything seemed fine until June 3rd, when a distress signal was sent out. The ship, at that point, was about 300 miles southwest of Adak Island in Alaska’s Aleutian chain. That’s when the U.S. Coast Guard responded to reports of a fire onboard.
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Now, this wasn’t just a minor engine room issue. Smoke was seen billowing from the stern—specifically from the deck carrying electric vehicles. Of the 3,000 cars onboard, 70 were fully electric and nearly 700 were hybrids. It seems the EVs were the ignition point, and despite all efforts, the fire couldn't be controlled. The entire crew—22 people in total—evacuated into a lifeboat and were safely rescued by a nearby merchant ship. No injuries were reported, thankfully.
But the real trouble came after the crew had been saved. With the ship dead in the water, salvage crews arrived days later, only to find that weather conditions and fire damage had made recovery nearly impossible. Slowly but surely, water began to seep in. And then, on Monday, June 24th, the Morning Midas sank—about 415 miles from the nearest land—in waters over 16,000 feet deep.
Zodiac Maritime, the company managing the vessel, confirmed the sinking and said there’s currently no visible pollution, but they’re keeping vessels on-site as a precaution. They’ve also deployed a specialized pollution response ship, just in case. It’s worth noting that there’s still no word on whether any of the vehicles were salvaged before the ship went down.
What’s more alarming is that this isn’t an isolated event. A similar fire broke out on a car carrier in 2023, which was also carrying EVs. That one led to casualties and raised big questions about fire safety when transporting electric vehicles at sea. It looks like those concerns weren’t fully addressed before the Morning Midas met its fate.
So here we are—thousands of brand-new cars now resting at the bottom of the ocean, no clear answers about what exactly triggered the fire, and yet another wake-up call for maritime safety standards, especially when it comes to transporting lithium-ion battery-powered vehicles. It’s a sobering reminder that even in 2025, the sea is still as unforgiving as ever.
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