It’s been a while since I’ve made an entry into this series, but this one, as they say, is a doozy.
We’ve all heard the stories of EVs bursting into unquenchable flames, courtesy of their massive batteries. Some have taken other cars with them or the houses they were parked at. Even, in one horrifying case, an EV’s ‘car-jacking-proof’ flush door handles meant that bystanders had to stand helplessly by as its occupant roasted to death.
What could possibly top that?
The US Coast Guard responded to a fire on board a 600 foot (183 m) cargo ship containing 22 people near Alaska, stating that no injuries had been reported. The ship, Morning Midas was located 300 miles (482.8 km) southwest of Adak in Alaska. Its crew was actively fighting the fire, the coast guard mentioned […]
The cause of the fire and any possible environmental impact have not yet been disclosed, as an investigation is currently underway.
Well, we know the cause now. You guessed it: EVs.
Morning Midas, the cargo ship, caught fire earlier this month, with smoke initially seen emanating from a deck carrying electric vehicles.
Morning Midas, a cargo ship carrying 3,000 vehicles including 800 electric vehicles, caught a fire on June 3 in waters off Alaska’s Aleutian island chain. The crew of the ship abandoned it after they were unable to control the blaze […]
Electric vehicles contain lithium-ion batteries, which are generally safe but can overheat and ignite if damaged.
I don’t know, but does that sound ‘safe’ to you?
And the fate of the ship?
The shipping company said that the cargo ship had sunk on June 23. Zodiac Maritime in a statement further said that the damage caused by the fire was compounded by heavy weather, and subsequently water entered inside the vessel, causing it to sink.
“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 metres deep and 360 nautical miles from land,” the manager said in its statement […]
The 600-foot (183-metre) Morning Midas, a car and truck carrier, was built in 2006 and sails under a Liberian flag.
The cars left Yantai, China, on May 26, according to the industry site marinetraffic.com.
Liberian ship. Chinese-made EVs.
What could possibly go wrong?
As of writing, Greenpeace, who once so concerned themselves with the impact of toxic chemicals on deep-sea life that they lied through their teeth about the Brent Spar rig, have failed to say a single word on the impact of dumping more than 300 tonnes of highly toxic EV batteries at sea.
Well, obviously the ship was beyond the environment.
