After a fire on board, the car carrier “Morning Midas” — loaded with 3,000 Chinese vehicles—took on water while under tow. A salvage operation now appears unlikely.
The car freighter “Morning Midas” (12,249 dwt) belonging to the British shipping company Zodiac, which caught fire on its journey from China to Mexico at the beginning of June, sank unexpectedly tonight. The ship (capacity: around 4,900 vehicles/CEU), loaded with around 3,000 new cars from Chinese production, was under tow when water broke in and the freighter, which was built in 2006, sank shortly afterwards.
According to the shipping company, the incident occurred at 4.35 p.m. local time (UTC -9) on Monday in the North Pacific 360 nautical miles from land. The reason for the water ingress was fire damage and the effect of heavy seas at the scene, according to the statement. The “Morning Midas” caught fire on June 3 around 500 km south of the island of Adak, which belongs to Alaska.
“Morning Midas” sank in deep sea
The specialist company Resolve Marine was tasked with fighting the fire and salvaging the ship. It mobilized several tugs and reported on 16 June that the fire had been contained and the ship still had sufficient leak stability. The car freighter was to be towed over a long distance to a port of refuge. The ship’s owner, Zodiac Maritime, has not yet provided any details about the ongoing towage.
The chances of salvaging the wreck are likely to be zero, as the “Morning Midas” sank in very deep water (5,000 meters), according to the shipping company. Two tugs with special equipment to combat environmental pollution are said to be on site. Another special ship is reportedly on the approach.
The total loss of the ship and its cargo is likely to cost marine hull and cargo insurers hundreds of millions of euros. For liability insurers, the loss is also likely to run into the millions, even without wreck removal, according to industry sources. The P&I insurer of the “Morning Midas” is Steamship Mutual.
According to unconfirmed reports, the car freighter was sailing under charter from SAIC Anji Logistics, a subsidiary of Chinese car manufacturer SAIC Motor, which, like other Chinese car companies, maintains its own shipping capacities for overseas transportation. The port of destination was Lazaro Cardenas in Mexico. The 22 crew members of the “Morning Midas” were safely evacuated and picked up by the container ship “Cosco Hellas”. (mph)
