SIX DAYS AFTER: Rescue Team Arrives Burning Car Carrier MV. Morning Midas
The abandoned car carrier MV. Morning Midas continues to drift off Alaska as the first salvage tug arrive at the vessel after six days.
The US Coast Guard (USCG) reported that the tug Gretchen Dunlap deployed by salvors Resolve Marine had arrived on the scene on Monday afternoon.
The Morning Midas, managed by Zodiac Maritime, was approximately 220 nautical miles south of Adak on Monday and drifting northeast at around 1.8 miles an hour.
Salvage crew onboard the Gretchen Dunlap have started a full assessment of the casualty with two additional vessels expected to arrive in the next two week.
The latest photos from overflights by the USCG show smoke continuing to billow from the Liberian-registered vessel with extensive fire damage throughout the length of the hull above the water line. On Monday the stricken vessel was being buffeted by 45 – 45 knot winds and six-foot seas.
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USCG said it was in close communication with Zodiac Maritime as their salvors, Resolve Marine, develop comprehensive salvage and safety plans.
“The safety of the public, responders, and vessel crews operating in the area remains our top priority,” said Rear Adm. Megan Dean, commander of the Coast Guard’s Seventeenth District. “We are working closely with Zodiac Maritime to ensure a safe and effective plan to address the fire and mitigate any potential impacts to the environment.”
The Coast Guard continues to track the vessel’s position and condition through regular overflights and there are no signs of pollution.
Fire broke out on the Liberian-registered, 2006-built, Morning Midas at around 00:00 hrs UTC, or 2pm local time, on 3 June. The 22 crew onboard abandoned ship after firefighting efforts were unsuccessful and were safely picked up from a lifeboat by the nearby vessel Cosco Hellas.
The Morning Midas is carrying a cargo of 3,048 cars, of which 70 are fully electric and 861 are hybrids. An earlier statement from Zodiac said the fire emanated from a deck carrying EVs.
The Morning Midas was enroute to Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico at the time of the incident.
Fires on car carriers and container ships from lithium-ion batteries are growing concern to the industry and insurers due to the difficulty in bringing them under control.