On August 12, 2025, Alaska Marine Lines, which operates barge services to Hawaii and Alaska, announced that it will no longer ship electric vehicles (EVs) or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) on its vessels. The prohibition on EVs and PHEVs took effect immediately for barges to Hawaii, Central Alaska, and Western Alaska, and took effect on September 1 for barges to Southeast Alaska. The company attributed the change to “the increased complexity and fire risk associated with shipping large lithium-ion batteries on vessels at sea.” EV fires pose unique difficulty for firefighters, ranging from the difficulty of extinguishing the fire to the gases released. The announcement comes about two months after a cargo ship carrying thousands of new vehicles, including EVs and PHEVs, caught fire off the coast of Alaska and burned for weeks before eventually sinking.

The new policy by Alaska Marine Lines limits the transportation options available for vehicle shipment to Alaska and Hawaii and serves as a reminder that those moving EVs and other hazardous materials need to review not just relevant government regulations, but also policies and contractual limitations imposed by transportation service providers. Barges and ferries serve as a key access point to Alaskan communities that are inaccessible by roadways. Although EVs can still be transported to many of these communities via the Alaska Marine Highway System and its ferries, the state only permits two electric vehicles on each sailing for the same reason Alaska Marine Lines has implemented its policy, and these ferries can take longer. These evolving policies on EV transport require those shipping vehicles to carefully review the limitations imposed by carriers, which can, in some instances, be more stringent than the federal regulations that also govern such transport. Any person or entity that conducts a transport-related activity that falls within the scope of the Department of Transportation’s Hazardous Materials Regulations must comply with both those regulations and any restrictions imposed by a carrier, and should review both sets of requirements to ensure compliance with the more-stringent of the two. In some instances, the carrier will impose more stringent requirements, while other times or in other respects the federal regulations may impose additional requirements with which the shipper must still comply.