Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) recently filed a lawsuit against CargoLoop, a U.S.-based automotive logistics provider, alleging that improper securing of electric vehicles caused a fire aboard the container ship MSC Carlotta during a voyage from California to Lithuania. The claim amounts to approximately $273,000.
The dispute stems from August 2023, when the MSC-operated vessel MSC Carlotta loaded two containers provided by CargoLoop, which held used and previously damaged electric vehicles. The shipping documents clearly specified the vehicles’ age and their classification as hazardous materials, and MSC agreed to transport the shipment.
CargoLoop was responsible for loading this batch of used electric vehicles; wooden racks were used to load the cars into 40-foot containers, resulting in at least one vehicle being stacked on top of another.
MSC alleges that in the early hours of September 2, 2023, while the MSC Carlotta was sailing in waters near the Baja California Peninsula, an explosion and fire occurred within a CargoLoop container. The fire subsequently spread to a second CargoLoop container loaded with electric vehicles.
Although the crew successfully extinguished the fire, several containers in the vicinity sustained damage from the fire or the water used to put it out; consequently, the vessel diverted to Mexico to have the damaged containers offloaded, inspected, and reloaded.
According to MSC’s lawsuit filings, investigators determined that the fire likely originated in a 2018 Tesla Model S that was stacked on top of a 2012 Ford Focus.
MSC claims that the wooden racking systems could fail during the voyage, causing Tesla vehicles to collapse onto Ford vehicles and potentially damage the battery packs; similar racking failures were also observed in another CargoLoop container on the same voyage.
At the same time, MSC has speculated on other possible causes of the fire: the electric vehicle batteries may have been damaged during forklift handling, or necessary precautions—such as disconnecting the vehicle batteries—were not followed.