US Coast Guard responds to car-carrier fire

UPDATED 0830 FRIDAY 6 JUNE

MANAGERS of the Morning Midas, Zodiac Maritime, say that based on images from the United States Coast Guard (above) the vessel remains afloat with smoke continuing to billow from its decks.

Zodiac Maritime has appointed salvors Resolve Marine to respond to the vessel fire, but given its location say it will take up to four days to reach the stricken ship.

“A first tug carrying a team of salvage specialists and specialised equipment has already been mobilised and is expected to arrive at the scene on approximately June 9,” said a Zodiac Maritime spokesperson.

“There it will assess the vessel’s condition and provide necessary support. An additional fire-fighting tug, capable of ocean towage, is also being arranged to provide further support.”

In the meantime, Zodiac Maritime will continue to monitor the abandoned vessel via onboard systems that remain connected via GPS.

Zodiac Maritime praised the actions of its crew in attempting to fight the fire stating that it deployed the vessel’s onboard suppression systems to no avail.

“Due to the intensity of the fire and to prioritise crew safety, the decision was made to abandon the vessel,” added the spokesperson.

The 46,800 ton Morning Midas was enroute from China to Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico at the time of the incident.

The original story continues below:

THE United States Coast Guard is responding to a vessel fire aboard a car carrier off the Alaskan coast following a distress signal received at approximately 3:15pm local time.

While the 22 crew evacuated safely via lifeboats, it is understood a total of 3048 new vehicles are at risk of being engulfed in flame – including 70 battery electric vehicles and 681 hybrid electric vehicles.

The situation echoes that of the much-publicised Felicity Ace fire off the coast of the Azores in 2022 and the Panama-registered Fremantle Highway in 2023.

Managed by UK-based Zodiac Maritime, the vessel at the centre of the latest situation is understood to be the Liberian-flagged Morning Midas. The US Coast Guard is responding to the distress call with sea and air crews, with official reports stating, “smoke is emanating from the vessel”.

“As the search and rescue portion of our response concludes, our crews are working closely with the vessel’s manager, Zodiac Maritime, to determine the disposition of the vessel,” said US Coast Guard Seventeenth District Rear Admiral Megan Dean.

“We are grateful for the selfless actions of the three nearby vessels who assisted in the response and the crew of motor vessel Cosco Hellas, who helped save 22 lives.”

The Morning Midas is further estimated to have approximately 350 metric tons of gas fuel and 1530 metric tons of very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) onboard.

The US Coast Guard is working with the management of the Morning Midas to coordinate recovery efforts of the vessel.

GoAuto will update this article as news comes to hand.