Morning Midas Finally Sinks

The car carrier Morning Midas sank on June 23 following the fire that broke out on board on June 3.

The fire was no longer active, but the vessel sank while awaiting the arrival of a tug with long-distance towing capability.

“Damage caused by the fire, compounded by heavy weather and subsequent water ingress, caused the Morning Midas to sink at around 16.35 local time zone (UTC -9) on 23 June, in waters approximately 5,000 meters deep and 360 nautical miles from land,” said ship manager Zodiac Maritime.

The vessel reportedly had 350 metric tons of marine gas oil and 1,530 metric tons of very low sulfur fuel oil onboard.

There are no reports of visible signs of pollution, and two salvage vessels, Garth Foss and Salvage Worker, remain on scene and are conducting continuous assessments of the area with pollution response equipment onboard. 

The oil spill response vessel Endeavour is en route from Dutch Harbor and is expected to arrive on scene Thursday. The Endeavour is equipped with additional pollution response equipment including an oil spill containment and recovery system.

The Morning Midas was located 300 miles (482.8 km) southwest of Adak in Alaska when the fire broke out.

The Liberia-flagged ship left China's Yantai port on May 26 and was on the way to Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico, according to LSEG data. There were 3,048 vehicles onboard, with 70 being fully electric vehicles and 681 being partial hybrid electric vehicles.

Smoke was initially seen rising from a deck loaded with electric vehicles, and the crew of 22 was safely evacuated.