A cargo ship transporting 3,000 cars was abandoned in the middle of the Pacific on Tuesday after a massive fire broke out. As of Friday, the ship is still burning. The flame may have been fed by the lithium-ion batteries of vehicles, which are known difficult to burn once lit.
The ship, called Morning Midas, has been reported to have transported 3000 cars on a journey from Yantai, China to Lazaro Cardin, Mexico. Of these vehicles, about 750 were completely electric or partial hybrids, powered at least partly by large lithium -ion batteries that could collide and light extremely hot fires. Although the exact cause has not yet been determined, Midas’ morning crew reported smoking, rising from the deck around midnight on Tuesday.
Representative from Zodiac Maritime, a ship manager based in the UK Registry that the 22 sailors on board responded to the fire on Tuesday and tried to extinguish it, using the available built -in fire suppression systems. It wasn’t enough. As the flame is out of control, it reports that the crew issued a disaster call and abandoned the ship in rescue boats. A commercial ship responded and saved all 22 sailors, according to a statement published by the US coastal guard.
As for the morning Midas, it remains sailing and forests in the middle of the Pacific, about 304 miles south of Adak, Alaska. It is not clear what he is doing or car models were on board – or whether any of them will be restored.
In a statement sent to Popular science, Zodiac Maritime said it was decided to prioritize the safety and abandonment of the ship due to the intensity of the fire. Zodiac has appointed the rescue company allows the Marines to respond to the ongoing fire. A separate team of rescue specialists is expected to arrive on stage until June 9. Zodiac says it continues to monitor Midas’s condition through its built -in satellite systems.
“As the search and rescue part ends, our crews work closely with the ship manager, Zodiacal Mar, to determine the location of the ship,” said the seventeenth County Megan Dean. “We are grateful for the selfless actions of the three close ships that helped the answer and crew of Kosco Hellas motor ships, which helped save 22 lives.”
Related: [Electric vehicle fires are rare, but challenging to extinguish]
What makes the EV battery so hard to expose
You may have seen images of firefighters struggling to quell fires in Teslas and other large EVs. While EVS is statistically less likely to ignite than vehicles with internal combustion engines, the fires that happen are significantly more difficult to extinguish. This is due to a phenomenon known as thermal escape. Large lithium-ion batteries that power EVS can be torn, triggering a chain reaction that ultimately leads to ignition.
Thermal escape can take days or even weeks to manifest. But once lit, these fires burn much worse than those caused by traditional internal combustion engines. They can also benefit after they have been extinguished, which makes them particularly challenging for firefighters to rule.
Tesla’s electric cars burn on the trailer of the moving truck after one of them caught fire for unknown reasons in Istanbul, Turkey. Image: Muhammed Gencebay Gur/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Anadua
Cargo ships are a perfect place for the propagation of potentially dangerous fires. They are often tightly packed with vehicles and have limited ventilation, which means that a fire in one vehicle can quickly spread to others. And while ships are usually equipped with some fire systems, these measures may be insufficient after flames have been spread to multiple vehicles.
In 2022, a cargo ship carning 4,000 vehicles caught fire in the Atlantic and eventually sank. Just a year later, another ship carrying about 3,000 vehicles caught fire from the Dutch coast. This incident killed one person and wounded several others.
EV batteries become more favorable
Car manufacturers and battery suppliers are working hard to improve durability and reduce the risk of lithium -ion fires. This week alone, Texas -based Alkegen, the main supplier of cellular spacers used in batteries, has announced commercial production of a new type of Airgel insulation, which they say can protect EV batteries from thermal escape. Other companies have improved monitoring systems to maintain battery health sections and more intelligent charging protocols that prevent damage from recharging.
Even with these enhancements, however, the clean scale of the new EVS that is being delivered to meet the growing global demand means fires, either on ships, or outside the streets, is unlikely to disappear soon.