A cargo ship carrying 3,000 new vehicles sank in the North Pacific off the coast of Alaska several weeks after catching fire and being abandoned by its 22-member crew.
The Morning Midas sank Monday evening in international water near the Aleutian Islands, London-based shipping company Zodiac Maritime said in a statement.
The Coast Guard received a distress alert on June 3 about the fire. The crew escaped on lifeboats without any injuries and were rescued by a nearby container ship.
A large plume of smoke was visible rising from the ship’s stern, where about 700 electric and hybrid vehicles were being stored. Lithium ion batteries can cause fires if damaged.
The carrier, which was headed to a Pacific port in Mexico after leaving China in late May, was abandoned when the crew was unable to extinguish the fire onboard.
Zodiac Maritime said the fire, bad weather and water seepage sank the vessel in an area that’s more than 16,000 feet deep and more than 400 miles from land — about 100 miles away from where the fire was first reported.
The company did not say whether they were able to remove the vehicles from the ship before it went under, but a salvage crew arrived within days of the fire.
Two salvage tug boats with pollution control equipment will remain in the area for the time being to watch for signs of oil spills or floating debris. The Coast Guard is also monitoring the situation.
