Cargo ship burns off coast of Alaska
A Coast Guard C-130J Super Hercules aircrew from Air Station Kodiak conducts an overflight of a fire aboard the cargo vessel Morning Midas approximately 300 miles south of Adak, Alaska, June 3, 2025. Image courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard / Roland Hobson.
A salvage team is enroute to a cargo ship stranded in waters off Alaska’s Aleutian island chain after it caught fire. The cargo ship was carrying 3,048 vehicles to Mexico when the fire took hold.
On 3 June, the Coast Guard received a distress alert at approximately 3:15 pm reporting a fire aboard the cargo ship Morning Midas, a 6ft UK-flagged cargo vessel with 22 crew members and reportedly carrying several thousand vehicles. The vessel was located roughly 300 miles (490 kilometers) southwest of Adak Island – Adak is approximately 1,200 miles (1,930 kilometers) west of Anchorage.
All 22 crew members aboard the Morning Midas evacuated the ship aboard a life boat and were subsequently rescued by the crew of motor vessel Cosco Hellas, one of three good Samaritan vessels that responded to the scene. There have been no reported injuries.
#UPDATE 2
— USCGAlaska (@USCGAlaska) June 6, 2025
– Vessel is approx. 340 mi SW of Adak.
– Wednesday overflight confirmed vessel still on fire, no visible indication it’s taking on water.
– Zodiac Maritime coordinating to send salvage team for assessments.
📸 From Wednesday
Press Release: https://t.co/SBVLX7MlHs https://t.co/bZnkENfdS5 pic.twitter.com/kNzAzAYpw6
According to the latest estimate from the US Coast Guard, the cargo ship was reportedly carrying a total of 3,048 vehicles, with 70 being fully electric vehicles and 681 being partial hybrid electric vehicles. The US Coast Guard noted that this information is preliminary and subject to change pending the development of any new information.
Morning Midas, which is is Liberian-flagged & UK-managed, is estimated to have approximately 350 metric tons of gas fuel and 1,530 metric tons of very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) onboard.
“As the search and rescue portion of our response concludes, our crews are working closely with the vessel’s parent company, Zodiac Maritime, to determine the disposition of the vessel,” said Rear Admiral Megan Dean, commander of the Coast Guard’s Seventeenth District, on 3 June.
The Coast Guard has latterly confirmed Zodiac Maritime is the vessel’s manager, not parent company.
Zodiac Maritime is coordinating to send a team of salvage specialists to the vessel for further assessment. It is not clear how the fire started.
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