Another Car Carrier Fire

Looks like another possible Class D fire. I wonder when the class rules are going to catch up, most merchant ships/crews are not equiped for such things.

22 crew members rescued from lifeboat in North Pacific after ship carrying 3,000 cars catches fire https://apnews.com/article/cargo-ship-electric-car-fire-alaska-22fff66494b023142376bda01a781744

 

More info;

 

What a mess. I guess if you're going to have to have a runaway lithium battery fire... 300 miles west of adak is about the least inhabited place on earth to go down.

 

Still on fire. The first fire/salvage tug is slated to arrive on scene today. Not sure what they can do except hose the outside down. I don't see them initiating a tow while it's burning, but maybe tow it somewhere closer to resources? I really don't think there is much to be done at sea until it either burns out or sinks. There have been 15 car carrier fires since 2015 and half have sunk or been total losses and scrapped.

Do we need car carriers with "Pez dispenser" systems that can autonomously dump their cars into the sea? Basically a giant Coke machine - stranger things have been done. Maybe Carvana can get some value from their patents yet.

 

Perhaps shipping without batteries, point sourcing them on delivery?
Or just stop shipping cars. Shop local, think local.

 

Finally sinks.
Morning Midas Finally Sinks https://www.marinelink.com/news/morning-midas-finally-sinks-527266

 

Been some wild June weather out that way, was recently on the peninsula where the chain starts. We usually have a decent blow start of summer and then the better weather starts. We've had three that were in the sustained 45knot category. Doesn't surprise me that it sank before tugs could make it, that's a stretch of the world that feels like the edge of the earth.


About 10 years ago we were fishing the aleutians and a storm came up that was fast enough forming we couldn't make it to a land shelter. We opted to jog straight out to sea well over a hundred miles. Rode it out with very little surface wind but a massive slow rolling swell pushed out by the storm. Was a bit surreal to have a flat calm surface with a rather spectacular building swell. Somewhere around day two or three a big car carrier appeared and passed us as we were just jogging in place killing time. Only man made object we saw for the week was a giant carrier appear and then dissappear.



Im my industry legislation is several years behind the insurance companies. My guess is the underwriters will find a solution long before governing bodies or even the ship owners fix anything. At some point the cost to insure these total losses will force a solution.