What the MTF 2025 EV Carriage Report Asks

The Maritime Technologies Forum (MTF) — a coalition of flag states and classification societies — published its "Safe Carriage of Electric Vehicles" report in March 2025. Across eight focus areas it puts early detection first, naming gas detectors and battery-management alerts as the front line. For once, the consensus position and the engineering view agree on where to start: catch the fault before it becomes a fire.

What the MTF report is

It is the closest thing to a flag-and-class consensus on carrying EVs by sea. The MTF brings together major flag administrations and classification societies, so its March 2025 "Safe Carriage of Electric Vehicles" report carries weight in survey conversations and port-state expectations — even though the mandatory IMO regulation specific to electric vehicles does not enter force until 1 January 2028. The report is aimed at pure car and truck carriers (PCTCs) and reads as a practical checklist, not a treaty.

What it asks for — eight focus areas

• Early detection — AI-enabled CCTV, infrared cameras, gas detectors, and alerts from each vehicle's battery-management system.
• Thermal-runaway and battery characteristics — how a single cell failure cascades into an uncontrollable fire.
• Explosion prevention — explosion-proof electrical equipment and continuous mechanical ventilation to stop flammable-gas build-up.
• Fire protection — fire blankets, fixed and portable boundary cooling, and water curtains.
• Manual firefighting — water-mist lances, thermal imagers, and portable cooling devices.
• Fixed firefighting — a comparison of CO₂, foam, and water-based systems.
• Crew safety — enhanced PPE and sufficient breathing apparatus.
• Training — regular drills tailored to EV fire scenarios.

Why early detection leads the list

Because the only cheap intervention is the earliest one. The report's emphasis on detection reflects the physics: the first actionable sign of a failing lithium-ion pack is off-gassing — volatile organic compounds and other gases released as the electrolyte decomposes, before the temperature surges and well before flame. Gas detectors and BMS alerts are named precisely because they can catch that venting phase. With an EV battery fire capable of exceeding 1,000°C against roughly 600°C for a conventional car, the difference between detecting at off-gas and detecting at smoke is the difference between isolating one vehicle and losing a deck.

The state-of-charge thread

Detection is paired with limiting the stored energy that loads in the first place. The report aligns with EMSA guidance on managing pack state of charge at the loading interface — generally a displayed SoC of 20–50% for EV battery packs — alongside temperature and voltage sensing. A lower SoC means less energy available to a runaway event, which is why SoC verification keeps appearing across the guidance landscape (IUMI, the VCSF, and now the MTF). It is a screening control that makes every downstream layer easier.

What it means before 2028

The MTF report is voluntary, but voluntary is not the same as optional. Flag states and classification societies translate consensus documents like this into survey checklists, class recommendations, and underwriter questionnaires long before IMO regulation catches up — and the binding EV-specific rule is still more than a year out. Operators that align with the report now are not waiting for 2028; they are answering the questions class and insurers are already asking.

Sources

• 1. Maritime Technologies Forum (MTF) — "Safe Carriage of Electric Vehicles" (March 2025), a flag-state and classification-society report aimed at PCTCs; eight focus areas led by early detection.
• 2. BIMCO / SAFETY4SEA / Hill Dickinson — coverage of the MTF 2025 EV-carriage report and its recommendations (early detection, explosion prevention, firefighting, crew training).
• 3. EMSA — guidance on managing lithium-ion battery pack state of charge at loading (generally 20–50% displayed SoC), with temperature and voltage sensing.
• 4. IUMI — "Risk mitigation for the safe ocean and short-sea carriage of electric vehicles" (Sept 2025): EV peak temperatures vs conventional vehicles.
• 5. IMO — SOLAS Ch II-2 / FSS Code amendments; mandatory EV-specific regulation entering force 1 January 2028.
• 6. [VERIFY: exact MTF membership (specific flag administrations and classification societies) and the precise '20–50% SoC' figure are drawn from MTF/EMSA reporting and secondary coverage — confirm against the MTF primary PDF and the EMSA guidance text.]