A salvage team is expected to arrive early next week at the scene of a cargo ship that was carrying about 3,000 vehicles to Mexico when it caught fire in waters off Alaska’s Aleutian island chain.

The crew of a cargo ship carrying thousands of vehicles from China to Mexico had to abandon the vessel off Alaska's Adak Island when they were unable to control a fire that broke out on board. The Liberian-flagged Morning Midas ship is carrying 3,

The U.S. Coast Guard said it would allow the fire to burn because the cars’ lithium-ion batteries could explode. The ship’s crew escaped on a lifeboat.