2 days ago
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Fires attributed to lithium-ion batteries on rivals' ships have led one American transport company to suspend shipping electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles until further notice.
A top US shipping company based in Hawaii has barred electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) from its vessels after a wave of fires on board competitors' ships in recent years.
Matson – which ships along America’s west coast, including Alaska and Hawaii, as well as to Guam, Japan, China, and the South Pacific – has reportedly ceased shipping of these select vehicles "effective immediately".
“Due to increasing concern for the safety of transporting vehicles powered by large lithium-ion batteries, Matson is suspending acceptance of used or new electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles for transport aboard its vessels," it said in a letter as reported by US publication The Maritime Executive.
"Effective immediately, we have ceased accepting new bookings for these shipments to/from all trades.”
The company partners with other carriers to ship from the South Pacific to Australia, but it is not known if its latest decision affects destined to local customers.
The fire risk posed by electric car batteries at sea has returned to the spotlight after the sinking of the Morning Midas in the Pacific Ocean in June due to a lithium-ion battery catching fire, submerging 3000 new cars, electric and otherwise.
In 2022, the Felicity Ace caught fire and sank en route from Germany to the US with nearly 4000 cars, a blaze attributed to an EV.
An electric car battery was also blamed for a fire on board the Fremantle Highway shipping vessel off the coast of the Netherlands in 2023.
More than 37,000 electric cars are on Hawaiian roads, out of an estimated 1.2 million registered vehicles in the state.
Australia has seven times as many electric cars on its roads, despite having a population 18 times greater.
Matson has indicated it will return EVs to its ships once it develops new safety protocols to accommodate them.
“Matson continues to support industry efforts to develop comprehensive standards and procedures to address fire risk posed by lithium-ion batteries at sea and plans to resume acceptance of them when appropriate safety solutions that meet our requirements can be implemented,” it reportedly said in its letter.
The US company already has measures in place to fight electric vehicle blazes on its vessels, including "mandatory training every 90 days for deploying firefighting blankets and using HydroPens to combat container fire,” according to its 2024 Sustainability Report
It also engages “with fire departments at ports to develop working plans for how to respond to a fire on a terminal.”
Ilana is a Melbourne-based journalist who was previously a copywriter in the Big Apple. Having moved to Melbourne for her Master of Journalism, she has written articles about food, farm machinery, fashion, and now the fast and furious. Her dream car has been a Mini Cooper since the fifth grade, eyeing its style and petite size.
