Second tug arrives at scene of stricken Morning Midas as fire appears extinguished

ZODIAC Maritime has confirmed that a second salvage vessel has arrived at the scene of the stricken vehicle carrier Morning Midas(IMO: 9289910), following the outbreak of fire on June 3 which spread from a vehicle deck.

“The second of three specialised vessels dispatched by salvors Resolve Marine, arrived at the location of Morning Midas on 15 June,” said London-headquartered Zodiac Maritime, the owner of the 2006-built vehicle carrier.

It confirmed that the crew of the second vessel, Foss Maritime’s fire-fighting tug Garth Foss (IMO: 9070266), assessed the condition of Morning Midas and reported that thermal scans and visual inspections showed no signs of active fire onboard.

The crew of Garth Foss confirmed that there were no signs of pollution to the water and that the 5,000 ceu Morning Midas’ watertight integrity “remains intact”.

The 47 m long Garth Foss has taken over from the first tug, Gretchen Dunlap (IMO: 9804021), which arrived at the casualty scene on June 9 from Alaska.

“Salvage specialists aboard Gretchen Dunlap were able to connect a tow cable to Morning Midas on June 11 to stabilise her and control her movement,” said Zodiac Maritime.

“The tow line has now been transferred to Garth Foss to continue controlling her movements until the long-distance towing vessel arrives.”

The multinational crew of Morning Midas abandoned the vessel via the ships’s lifeboat after attempts to extinguish the fire, which broke out in the Pacific Ocean while the vessel was on passage from China to Mexico, had to be abandoned.

All 22 crew members were successfully rescued by the passing Costamare-owned boxship COSCO Hellas (IMO: 9308510).

The 9,000 teu containership later continued on its voyage with the Morning Midas’ crew onboard and arrived at Manzanillo, Mexico yesterday June 15.

Morning Midas had loaded 3,048 vehicles, including 70 electric cars and 681 hybrid-electric cars, in China and is understood to be on time-charter to SAIC Anji Logistics, a subsidiary of Chinese vehicle manufacturer, SAIC Motor.