Abandoned Cargo Ship Carrying Chinese Cars Catches Fire in Pacific

By Bloomberg News

Jun 5, 2025

A cargo ship carrying cars from various Chinese automakers caught fire in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday. The vessel, named Morning Midas, was transporting around 3,000 cars, including electric vehicles, from manufacturers like Chery Automobile Co. and Great Wall Motor Co. to Mexico.

It is still unclear which specific brand’s electric vehicle ignited the fire. The ship originated from the eastern Chinese city of Yantai, known for its SAIC Motor Corp.-GM plant producing the Buick Envision model. The vessel was chartered by Anji Logistics, a subsidiary of SAIC.

According to reports, smoke was first spotted coming from a deck of the ship where approximately 800 EVs were stored. Despite the crew’s efforts to contain the blaze, it continued to spread uncontrollably. Responders were deployed to assist with salvage and firefighting operations, as confirmed by the ship’s manager Zodiac Maritime.

The US Coast Guard, which responded to the incident about 300 miles south of Adak Island in Alaska, successfully evacuated all 22 crew members and transferred them to a nearby merchant ship for safety.

Notably, Great Wall Motor had 140 cars onboard the ship, but none of them were electric vehicles and were not in proximity to where the fire originated.

While a representative from Chery declined to comment, Great Wall Motor has yet to respond to inquiries regarding the incident. Attempts to reach Anji Logistics for a statement have been unsuccessful.

For more details on this developing story, you can read the full article here.

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