A salvage crew is expected to reach the scene of the Morning Midas, the abandoned vehicle carrier that caught fire off the coast of Alaska while transporting 3 000 vehicles to Mexico last week.
According to preliminary data released by the US Coast Guard, the vessel was carrying around 70 fully electric and 680 hybrid vehicles as well as internal combustion engine vehicles when the fire broke out last Tuesday, June 3.
Its 22 crew attempted to extinguish the blaze without success.
The Coast Guard reported that it received a distress call from the Morning Midas at approximately 3:15 pm local time.
The vessel was navigating roughly 490km off the coast in the remote waters of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, west of Anchorage, at the time of the incident.
The US Coast Guard evacuated the crew to a lifeboat from which they were rescued by a passing merchant vessel. No injuries were reported.
Zodiac Maritime, the vessel’s London-based management company, has confirmed that a tug carrying specialised salvage personnel and essential equipment is expected to arrive at the site of the distressed ship on June 9.
Zodiac Maritime added that it is also mobilising a second tug with advanced firefighting and towing capabilities to assist at the scene.
Built in 2006 and flying a Liberian flag, the Morning Midas departed from Yantai, China, on May 26 bound for a major Pacific port in Mexico, according to marine traffic data.
