Ship carrying SAIC EVs on fire :(

[Everest]

Just came across this news article..

Crew evacuated from Zodiac Maritime vehicle carrier in Pacific Ocean after fire

UK shipowner Zodiac Maritime has confirmed fire started within a deck loaded with electric vehicles

www.lloydslist.com

Key points were...

- The 2006-built pure car and truck carrier was on passage from China to Mexico when smoke was witnessed on one of its vehicle decks.
- Smoke was initially seen emanating from a deck carrying electric vehicles,” said Zodiac Maritime, which confirmed that all crew are safe and accounted for, with no reports of any injuries.
- Morning Midas is one of a series of mid-sized PCTCs built by China’s Xiamen Shipbuilding and is understood to be on time charter to China’s SAIC Anji Logistics.

I wonder how soon the anti-EV brigade will pick up on it?

 

[Alb]

Just to add some context, it was carrying over 3000 vehicles of which only 70 were full EV.

 

[salty]

I wonder how soon the anti-EV brigade will pick up on it?

Just to add some context, it was carrying over 3000 vehicles of which only 70 were full EV.

Won't be long before, they pounce. Why let facts get in the way of sensationalism. Mention an EV and they will be there. Wouldn't matter if there was just One EV on board, that would get the blame.

 

[Rolfe]

Geoff Buys Cars has already put out a video on it I think. Of course, if it turns out the fire had nothing to do with the EVs, it will be a cover-up.

 

[Everest]

Just to add some context, it was carrying over 3000 vehicles of which only 70 were full EV.

Yes, 730 hybrids and 70 BEV's. But the fact they already said "Smoke was initially seen emanating from a deck carrying electric vehicles" isn't helpful.

Geoff Buys Cars has already put out a video on it I think.

Was that followed by "Geoff has some cheap EV's arriving soon"?

 

[Rolfe]

Dunno, I don't pay that much attention to him.

 

[GaryMG4]

Dunno, I don't pay that much attention to him.

He's on my 'don't recommend this channel' list so he doesn't exist (to me) any more.

 

[T1 Terry]

I'm glad they added this line at the end of the blurb
Nevertheless, so far none of the incidents have proven to be caused by electric vehicles.
Not that it will change the story line ...... but who cares, if people stop buying them they will discount them even further so we can buy a spare to keep at home to supplement the house battery

T1 Terry

 

[salty]

Yes, 730 hybrids and 70 BEV's. But the fact they already said "Smoke was initially seen emanating from a deck carrying electric vehicles" isn't helpful.

Who's to say it was even, started by a vehicle. Could've been owt. It's just convenient to blame a vehicle, particularly EVs.

 

[Susanna]

And hybrids are the highest bracket for vehicle fires.

 

[Rolfe]

I think most vehicle fires as we know them happen to cars that are being driven or have recently been driven. I wouldn't imagine these cars would have much in their fuel tanks, surely just enough to drive them on board. On the other hand the EVs would have their batteries over 20% at least to minimise degradation, or so we would hope. So normal stats wouldn't necessarily apply.

Nevertheless I think a fire like this is far more likely to have started independently from the cargo, in some system of the ship's. The idea that a brand new EV battery is spontaneously going to go into thermal runaway seems far-fetched, as does the idea that a brand-new ICE car with little in its tank and that has only been driven up a ramp.

 

[Archev]

I think most vehicle fires as we know them happen to cars that are being driven or have recently been driven. I wouldn't imagine these cars would have much in their fuel tanks, surely just enough to drive them on board. On the other hand the EVs would have their batteries over 20% at least to minimise degradation, or so we would hope. So normal stats wouldn't necessarily apply.

Nevertheless I think a fire like this is far more likely to have started independently from the cargo, in some system of the ship's. The idea that a brand new EV battery is spontaneously going to go into thermal runaway seems far-fetched, as does the idea that a brand-new ICE car with little in its tank and that has only been driven up a ramp.

I blame the second mate, in the galley with a toaster overloaded with a supersized slice of sourdough

 

[Alb]

I blame Roger the Cabin Boy.

 

[T1 Terry]

Fuel tanks with little in them are the most dangerous. If you have an empty jerry can on the ferry across to Tasmania, you have to fill it with water, but it's ok to store a full jerry can in their flammables locker and collect it as you leave the ship.

The latest rules for the Tassie ferry is all EV or hybrids must be parked in a special area for the crossing ..... that is going to be a pain in the posterior and the wallet, the car trailer will take up a vehicle spot, even though it will be empty, and then the additional spot for the MG4 ..... might have to find a lock up place to leave the trailer and Margaret drive the MG onto the ferry and around Tassie, then connect it back up when we return to the mainland .....

T1 Terry

 

[salty]

Yep, that sounds like a pain. All fuelled (pardon the pun) by reports, probably mostly untrue, by the media And believed by a lot of folk, in this case the Ferry company.

 

[Alb]

I came across this from the Maritime Technologies Forum the other day. Makes interesting reading.

 

[T1 Terry]

Hmmm...... This is an actual EV fire, deliberately started to try out different fire fighting techniques. It's worth noting that there was a hole cut in each end of the battery enclosure, so not something that would normally be the case with an EV fire, you can see early on that the flames are coming out of each end of the battery enclosure and actually catches the car on fire ......

Robby the robot almost puts the fire out early on, so they have to back it away and turn it off to allow the fire to take hold around the 10 min mark.

You will see how an EV fire is really contained, the water and special chemicals are useless, the blanket does the job twice .....



T1 Terry

 

[Gadget Geek]

When the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio for petroleum reaches 14.7 to 1, the vapour becomes explosive, just as it is supposed to in the engine. In a fuel tank, it's bad news for the car.

 

[Rolfe]

I was thinking more about the amount of fuel available to keep the fire going, but you make a good point. However, the people who run these ships know that (it's similar to what is believed to have happened to the Mary Celeste), and surely take steps to avoid the danger?

 

[T1 Terry]

An EV blanket for each EV loaded on the ship and covering each EV. A refundable charge on each EV blanket that still has a non burnt EV under it when unloaded at the dock.

No idea about how to protected against petrol and diesel vehicle going up in flames though. I know many of the big site cranes we built when I worked at Favco Favelle had diesel tank heaters and block heaters, to keep both liquids in liquid form ..... for the ones going to China, the hydraulic tank also had a heater and a pump to continuously move the oil through the system to stop the oil becoming so thick it burst return lines and oil coolers that were in the circuit.
I designed an oil cooler bypass when I was working there, after a number of oil coolers and oil filters exploded because the oil couldn't pass through fast enough ... the engineers decided a hydraulic tank heater and circulation pump was a better idea Apparently, it was the same engineer that had eliminated the cooler by pass idea 12 mths before I arrived, to reduce costs .... how dare a fitter prove his idea was dumb .... lets add 5 times the cost with an engineered fix .....

The problem with the diesel tank heaters, the thermostats would fail and boil the diesel ...... that vapour is far more explosive than petrol vapour, a fire ball that spreads until every vapour droplet is burnt or there is no more oxygen to assist the burning ..... then water gas comes into the equation ..... that blows to base out of blast furnaces ......

T1 Terry