Cargo Ship Stranded In The Franklin Strait Echos Lost 1845 Expedition

Happy Friday! It’s September 12, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift — your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you’ll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around.

In this morning’s edition, we’re looking at the latest big cargo ship to get stuck, as well as the fallout from Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s raid on the Hyundai-LG battery plant. We’ll also look at Canada’s evolving approach to international trade, and Rivian’s latest recall. 

We’re fans of a big boat stuck story, and we’ve got a great one: The cargo ship MV Thamesborg ran aground last Saturday in the Northwest Passage, because apparently we all live in 1845 now and need to worry about our ships making it through the Arctic. At least there’s a plan to deal with this one, which is better than Sir John Franklin’s expedition ever got. From Nunatsiaq News:

A plan to salvage the cargo ship Thamesborg is underway after the Canadian Coast Guard completed aerial and remote-operated vehicle surveys of the vessel, which sits grounded in the Franklin Strait.

The 172-metre Dutch cargo ship, owned by Royal Wagenborg, ran aground Saturday while transiting the Northwest Passage on its way to Baie Comeau, Que., from Asia. It was carrying carbon blocks for industrial use.

…

An update issued by the company late Thursday said the ship remains stable and there is a plan for a salvage master and naval architect to join Thamesborg by the end of the week.

Franklin’s ships were named Erebus (the Greek deity of darkness) and Terror, and I imagine his sailors encountered both. Thamesborg seems to more or less mean “paying bail money to the river Thames,” which I imagine is not a situation the crew of the Thamesborg will run into. Probably not, at least. 

ICE’s raid on Hyundai’s new battery plant is perhaps best described as a fiasco. The organization had warrants for four people, it arrested 475, and now 300 South Koreans have returned home — unlikely to grace American soil again any time soon. That last part is proving tricky for Hyundai, since it still needs people to put its factory together. From the Wall Street Journal:

The U.S. government’s immigration raid on Hyundai Motor’s Georgia battery plant site will set back construction by two or three months, according to Chief Executive José Muñoz.

“All these people want to get back” home, Muñoz said Thursday on the sidelines of an automotive conference in Detroit. More than 300 Koreans were released early Thursday and departed midday from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.

But the expertise those employees and contract workers had can’t be easily replaced, Muñoz said. “You need to see how can you fill those positions? And then, for the most part, those people are not in the U.S.”

Much of the issue here seems to boil down to the American visa system, which is perhaps best described as “bad.” The South Korean workers had visas, but American authorities said they weren’t quite the right visas for the work the Koreans were doing. Thus, 475 people were literally chained up and led onto buses. 

The United States has long been the major vehicle market in North America, by simple sales volume alone. But that’s changing, thanks to our tariffs, and now Canada wants to ensure that our whole trade war doesn’t impact our northern neighbors’ ability to get European cars. From Automotive News Canada:

One of Canada’s top trade officials used a trip this week to Germany and the U.K. to strengthen ties with the countries as a way to offset tense trade relations with the United States.

“The U.S. doesn’t appear to be a reliable partner in the near future, and that brings us to the EU and the U.K. as we look to grow investment,” Vic Fedeli, Ontario minister of economic, job creation and trade, told Automotive News Europe.

Fedeli, who was in Germany for the IAA Munich auto show as well as several meetings with business and political leaders, is bullish about keeping the momentum his province has achieved following recent moves made by Stellantis and Volkswagen Group that benefit Ontario.

Canada, please, adopt EU standards for cars. Put more pressure on us to swap out our regulations. You can make the automotive world better here. 

It’s recall time again, but keep those drinks sealed — this one isn’t from Ford. It’s Rivian’s turn at bat, recalling over 24,000 R1S and R1T SUVs and trucks for issues with the highway driving assist software. Apparently crashing while running driver assist software is bad. From Reuters:

Rivian is recalling 24,214 R1S and R1T electric vehicles due to a software defect that may cause its hands-free Highway Assist system to misidentify lead vehicles, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Friday.

The issue affects certain 2025 Rivian vehicles running an older software version in the United States, the NHTSA said.

Rivian has issued an over-the-air software update to fix the problem, the NHTSA added.

The defect was identified after an incident involving a 2025 R1S model vehicle, where the system misclassified a low-speed vehicle and the driver failed to maintain control.

Luckily, this is the kind of recall that’s easy on owners. Your Rivian downloads an update, and that’s it — problem solved. No wonder automakers are so bullish on software. 

Bonus On The Radio gear this morning! I saw Sammus perform in the basement of a used book store in Rochester, NY once. Great show. 

Yesterday was, indeed, a Big Jueves. New Health on the way, and I’m excited.