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30 Seconds. That's What a Lithium Fire Gives You.
10 April 2026 · 19 min · 118K views
Tiny dinghy floats alone on vast dark sea
What this video covers
On June 10, 2024, the sailing vessel Theros left Halifax bound for the Azores with two crew aboard; three days later, 34 nautical miles southwest of Sable Island, its AIS signal went dark.1:52 Four weeks later, Parks Canada found both crew dead on Sable Island's south shore, having washed ashore in their inflatable dinghy.2:22 The Transportation Safety Board of Canada concluded the evidence is consistent with an onboard fire.2:32 James Evenson argues the boat's electric propulsion system — built around a salvaged car battery — entered thermal runaway, engulfing the cabin in seconds.3:18 The EPIRB and life raft, stored near the companionway, burned with the boat.5:56 The crew escaped only in the dinghy, with no communications, no water, and no float plan on file.6:12 A Garmin inReach was not aboard.7:41 Evenson draws five specific lessons: mount the EPIRB externally with a hydrostatic release; file a float plan with a hard overdue time and a designated shoreside commander; store 10 gallons of fresh water in the aft lazarette; keep a ditch bag with a satellite communicator accessible from outside the cabin; and have any lithium battery system — especially one built from car batteries — designed or reviewed by a licensed marine electrician with proper BMS temperature monitoring.8:49 Nigel Calder is cited recommending against DIY lithium systems entirely.14:03 Any single one of these measures, Evenson argues, would have changed the outcome.7:56
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