A shipful of devices – the Morning Midas – has reportedly been abandoned in the Pacific Ocean somewhere near Alaska because one of the devices (at least) stored in the hold spontaneously combusted and the crew was unable to control the conflagration that ensued. There were reportedly 800 devices on board, headed from China to Mexico.

The Coast Guard released the following statement:

"USCG responding to fire onboard 600 ft cargo ship Morning Midas with 22 people aboard 300 mi SW of Adak – No reported injuries – Ship's crew actively fighting fire – 3 vessels on scene to assist – USCG aircrews en route to Adak – USCG Cutter en route to the area."

It was reported later that all crew members were safely evacuated but the ship's a goner. Another one. You may remember the Felicity Ace, which had a bellyfull of devices (including VW, Audi and Bentley devices) in its hold when – again – one of them lit up spontaneously, resulting in an uncontrollable fire and an abandoned ship that later sank. This sort of thing has never happened even once – over the past 100 years of shipping vehicles by ship across the ocean – because it takes both fuel and fire to get a vehicle burning. This is why vehicles are inherently safer than devices. Even in the aftermath of a severe accident – severe enough to puncture the gas tank, leaking gas will not catch fire unless there is an ignition source, such as a spark or a flame caused by an electrical short or some other such thing. You can fill a swimming pool with liquid gasoline and that alone will not result in a fire. There has to be something else – the spark or flame – to trigger the combustion.

It's a kind of fail safe.

Battery-powered devices are very different in that the battery that stores the device's power (electricity) is a source of its own ignition. The device can light up while parked. Or being transported. It has happened numerous times. An accident is not necessary.