Morning Midas completely burned through as salvors arrive on scene

The car carrier Morning Midas, adrift off the coast of Alaska, is still burning, with the first tug arriving at the scene on Monday.

The fire on the Zodiac Maritime-managed 4,902 ceu car carrier started a week ago, on June 3, during the vessel’s voyage from Mexico to Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico. The vessel is chartered to China’s SAIC Anji Logistics. It is located some 355 km south of Adak.

The 22-strong crew abandoned ship and were rescued by the 2006-built, 9,469 teu containership COSCO Hellas.

The 2006-built car carrier was loaded with 3,159 vehicles, among them 65 fully electric cars and 681 hybrids. The vessel is also carrying around 350 tonnes of gas fuel and 1,530 tonnes of very low-sulphur fuel oil.

The tug vessel Gretchen Dunlap arrived yesterday afternoon with salvage personnel and has begun a full assessment of the conditions on scene. An additional two vessels are scheduled to arrive on different dates within the next two weeks.

A Coast Guard C-130J Super Hercules aircraft conducted an overflight of the car carrier on Sunday and observed no signs of pollution. However, images from the overflight show that the fire has caused considerable damage to the entire vessel.

The Coast Guard, Zodiac Maritime, and the salvage company Resolve Marine are developing comprehensive salvage and safety plans.

The vessel’s position and condition are being tracked through regular overflights, and drift analysis is conducted using information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Response and Restoration.

As of 7 am local time on Monday, the Morning Midas was reported to be drifting northeast at approximately 2.9 kmph.