Morning Midas Tragedy: After catching fire, Cargo ship with 3000 cars sank in the Pacific Ocean

New Delhi (India) June 25: A cargo ship was carrying new cars to Mexico when it sank in the North Pacific Ocean. The ship was dead in the water after crew members abandoned it because they were unable to put out an onboard fire.

According to a statement from the ship's management firm, London-based Zodiac Maritime, the Morning Midas sank Monday in international waters outside the Aleutian Islands range in Alaska.

According to the statement, the carrier sank in waters approximately 16,404 feet (5,000 meters) deep and 415 miles (770 km) from land due to fire damage, poor conditions and water seepage.

About 3,000 new cars were carried onto the ship and headed for a major Mexican port in the Pacific. Zodiac Maritime did not immediately reply to queries on Tuesday about the removal of any of the cars before the ship's sinking. A salvage team arrived days after the fire damaged the car. 

According to the firm, two salvage tugs with pollution control gear will stay on the scene to keep an eye out for any debris or pollution. When the Morning Midas sank, none of the crew members of the two ships suffered any injuries.

According to Zodiac Maritime, a second specialised pollution response vessel is being sent to the site as an extra precaution.

On June 3, when the Morning Midas was about 300 miles (490 km) southwest of Adak Island, the Coast Guard reported that it had received a distress warning regarding a fire on board.

The Morning Midas had twenty-two crew members. A nearby commercial marine vessel rescued them all after they were evacuated to lifeboats.

There were roughly 680 hybrid cars and 70 fully electric cars among them. According to the Coast Guard and Zodiac Maritime at the time, a sizable cloud of smoke was first observed in the ship's stern, coming from the deck that was packed with electric vehicles.

A US Coast Guard officer claimed that there was no "visible pollution" after the incident after it sank. Officer Cameron Snell said that the US Coast Guard currently has ships available to react in the event that any pollution indicators are detected.

Aadrika Tayal