Cargo ship carrying over 3,000 vehicles sinks in Pacific Ocean

A cargo ship carrying thousands of vehicles sank in the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, weeks after a fire broke out onboard. The vessel, Morning Midas, was travelling from Yantai, China, to Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico, when the incident occurred.  Salvage company Resolve Marine—also involved in the cleanup of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore—confirmed that the ship sank in international waters, according to media reports. Two salvage tugs equipped with pollution control systems remain at the site to monitor for oil leaks and floating debris.Along with the ship, the 3,048 vehicles it was carrying, 350 tonnes of diesel, and 1,530 tonnes of low-sulphur fuel oil also sank.
The ship sank in international waters off the Aleutian Islands chain in Alaska, according to the ship's management company, London-based Zodiac Maritime. The damage due to the flames, combined with bad weather and water seepage, led to the Morning Midas sinking 16,404 feet deep, 415 miles away from land, as per the Associated Press.
The 600-foot cargo ship had caught fire around 300 miles off the Alaskan coast on June 3. The ship sent a distress alert about the blaze, following which the US coast guard responded to the call. The coast guard confirmed that no injuries had been reported, with the 22 people onboard being evacuated in lifeboats. They were rescued by a merchant marine vessel which was near the carrier.The carrier, a Liberian-flagged ship built in 2006, had left from Yantai, China for Mexico on May 26, as per marinetraffic.com.