Editor's Note: This story was published on Alaska Public Media and is shared here with permission.
Alaska Marine Lines will no longer ship electric vehicles or plug-in hybrid vehicles to Alaska or Hawaii.
Last week, the barge company announced the policy change in a statement due to the fire risk associated with shipping large lithium ion batteries.
AML’s decision to stop shipping electric vehicles means reduced access for communities off the road system in Southeast Alaska, where EVs have become an increasingly popular option.
Alaskans can still bring electric vehicles up by ferry, though it can take longer. The Alaska Marine Highway System limits its policy to two electric vehicles per sailing. Once electric vehicles catch fire, they’re challenging to put out, according to Alaska Department of Transportation Spokesperson Sam Dapcevich.
“EV fires, I believe, kind of burn until they go out, and so you have to kind of contain them. Each vessel has two specialized blankets on board that can be thrown over a vehicle, and it sort of smothers it,” Dapcevich said. “We also have a policy to park those vehicles in a specific location on the ship, and we provide extra room around them for the possibility of needing to fight the fire.”
In June, a cargo ship southwest of Adak caught fire in the open ocean. It was carrying over 3000 vehicles, including nearly 700 hybrid vehicles and around 70 fully-electric vehicles. All crew members were rescued, but the U.S. Coast Guard could do little to contain the blaze due to the risks associated with lithium ion batteries. The ship burned for days before ultimately capsizing and sinking.
Dapcevich said it’s not just the fire that makes EVs high risk, especially on a passenger vessel like a state ferry.
“It’s the toxic fumes, and you’re in an enclosed space, and they can travel into through the ventilation system in the vessel,” Dapcevich said. “They can travel into passenger spaces, and so it’s just a very dangerous situation to have an EV fire on a boat. And that’s part of why we limit it.”
Dapcevich said Alaskans looking to bring up electric vehicles from the Lower 48 should flag that information when they’re making a ferry reservation.
In an email to KCAW, Alaska Marine Lines spokesperson Ryan Dixon said the barge company would continue to reassess its decision to stop shipping electric vehicles as industry safety standards improve. Hybrid vehicles that do not plug in will still be allowed on the company’s cargo ships, as well as smaller electric recreational vehicles, like e-bikes and 4-wheelers.
The new policy is effective immediately for Central and Western Alaska and Hawaii, but the change doesn’t go into effect for Southeast until September 1.
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