Cargo Ship Carrying 3,000 Vehicles, Including 800 EVs, Abandoned After Fire Erupts Off Alaska

In this photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, smoke rises from cargo vessel Morning Midas approximately 300 miles south of Adak, Alaska, June 3, 2025, as the crew of a cargo ship carrying around 3,000 vehicles to Mexico, abandoned ship after they could not control a fire.

The crew of a cargo ship transporting 3,000 vehicles—including 800 electric vehicles (EVs)—to Mexico abandoned the vessel after a fire broke out onboard in the North Pacific Ocean off Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.

The incident occurred Tuesday, when a plume of smoke was seen emerging from the stern of the Morning Midas, where EVs were loaded on deck. The fire quickly escalated beyond control despite emergency firefighting efforts initiated by the ship’s 22-member crew using the vessel’s onboard suppression system.

Unable to extinguish the blaze, the crew abandoned ship and evacuated to a lifeboat. They were rescued by the crew of the nearby merchant vessel Cosco Hellas, approximately 300 miles southwest of Adak Island. Adak is located around 1,200 miles west of Anchorage.

All 22 crew members were safely recovered, and no injuries were reported.

The vessel's management company, Zodiac Maritime, confirmed the fire and stated that authorities had been notified. A tug has been deployed to assist in firefighting and salvage operations. “Our priorities are to ensure the continued safety of the crew and protect the marine environment,” the company stated.

The U.S. Coast Guard dispatched air and surface response teams from Adak to monitor the vessel. As of Wednesday afternoon, smoke continued to rise from the ship, though the status of the fire remained unclear. Rear Admiral Megan Dean of the Coast Guard’s Seventeenth District expressed gratitude to the merchant vessels that assisted in the rescue and confirmed the search-and-rescue phase was concluded.

The Morning Midas, a 600-foot car and truck carrier built in 2006, is registered under a Liberian flag. It departed Yantai, China, on May 26 and was en route to the Pacific port of Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico.

This incident has drawn renewed attention to the risks of transporting electric vehicles at sea, especially after a similar tragedy in 2023, when a cargo ship carrying nearly 500 EVs caught fire en route from Germany to Singapore. That fire burned out of control for a week, killed one crew member, and led to calls for improved maritime emergency response.

With over 80% of global trade transported by sea, and with container vessels now exceeding three football fields in length, fire safety and cargo security aboard massive freighters remain pressing concerns for the global shipping industry.