The car carrier Morning Midas has been adrift in the Pacific since 3 June 2025, after its crew evacuated due to a fire. The vessel is carrying around three thousand vehicles, including 800 electric ones equipped with lithium batteries, which are notoriously difficult to extinguish. Operated by Zodiac Maritime, the ship had departed from the Chinese port of Yantai on 26 May, bound for Lazaro Cardenas in Mexico. While in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the crew detected smoke around midnight coming from one of the decks loaded with electric vehicles. Despite the crew's prompt intervention, the fire spread quickly, forcing the captain to issue a distress call.
The United States Coast Guard responded with ships and aircraft, rescuing all twenty-two crew members with assistance from two nearby container ships, Cosco Hellas and Matson Manukai. Zodiac confirmed that salvage and firefighting operations are under way, though the situation remains extremely challenging. The Morning Midas is a medium-sized car carrier with a capacity of five thousand vehicles and operates on charter for the Chinese company Saic Anji Logistics.
Transporting electric vehicles by sea poses specific risks due to the nature of lithium batteries, which are prone to thermal instability and can cause intense, hard-to-control fires. This issue has already drawn the attention of the industry following similar incidents, such as the 2022 fire that led to the sinking of a ship carrying 4,000 cars in the Atlantic Ocean. Batteries can ignite even without apparent impacts or stress, and a single malfunction is enough to spread flames across the stacked levels of stowed vehicles. Conventional fire suppression systems on ships are often inadequate to manage the intensity and duration of such blazes. Insurance companies are reassessing premiums and contract terms for vessels transporting electric vehicles, enforcing stricter prevention measures.
