The Morning Midas, a PCTC (pure car and track carrier) managed by British ship management company Zodiac Maritime, caught fire about 300 miles (about 483 kilometers) south of Adak, Alaska. At the time of the incident, there were more than 700 pure electric and hybrid electric vehicles on board.
According to a statement from Zodiac Maritime, the PCTC Morning Midas caught fire on June 3, 2025, at approximately 00:00 UTC, and smoke was initially observed coming from the deck area containing the electric cars.
The crew then immediately activated the emergency fire-fighting procedures and used the onboard fire-fighting system to put out the fire. However, the fire failed to be brought under control.
Three rescue vessels immediately responded to the accident site at approximately 3:15 p.m. on June 3rd. The U.S. Coast Guard and Zodiac Maritime are coordinating the rescue effort, and the company has said its priorities are to ensure the safety of the crew and protect the ocean environment.
Following the incident, all 22 crew members onboard were rescued via life rafts and rescued by the container ship Cosco Hellas, which had heard a rescue broadcast nearby. No injuries were reported.
By the afternoon of June 3, the accident vessel had been abandoned in the central Pacific Ocean, about 300 miles southwest of the remote Aleutian Islands.
According to the latest update from the United States Coast Guard on 4 June, the status of the fire on the Morning Midas remains unclear, with the vessel is still smoking and a tugboat assisting in extinguishing the fire, while salvage operations are proceeding in parallel. The vessel was carrying approximately 350 tons of gasoline fuel and 1,530 tons of ultra-low sulphur fuel oil.
Built in 2006 at Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry (XSI), the Morning Midas, with a length of about 182.88 meters, is a Liberian PCTC with a capacity of 4,902 vehicles.
Zodiac Maritime reported that the Morning Midas sailed from China on May 26 and was scheduled to arrive in Mexico on June 15. There were 3,159 vehicles onboard (another report said 3,048), including 70 pure electric vehicles and 681 hybrid electric vehicles.
Previously, in October 2024, during a port state inspection in Bremerhaven, the Morning Midas was cited for unspecified problems with fire safety and lifeboat launches that did not result in detention, and in January 2025, a routine inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard in Portland, Oregon, did not reveal any problems with the vessel.
According to the Equasis database, the Morning Midas is jointly owned by Zodiac Maritime and Hawthorn Navigation, which is also the vessel’s management company. According to Lloyd’s List, the vessel was chartered by China’s SAIC Anji Logistics.
Electric vehicles have been a continuing concern for the shipping industry due to the high incidence of multiple car fires. The increasing adoption of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles has significantly increased the risk of fires onboard. Such fires are more difficult to deal with due to the nature of the batteries, prompting insurers and the industry to issue specific warnings regarding the handling of electric vehicles.
In recent years, there have been many PCTC fire accidents that caused heavy losses, such as the “Sincerity Ace” in 2018, the “Felicity Ace” in 2022, and the “Fremantle Highway” in 2023.
In all three cases, fires continued to burn for days – the Fremantle Highway and Sincerity Ace remained afloat afterwards, while the Sincerity Ace eventually sank due to fire damage.