Iranian oil tanker burns on for third day as conditions hamper search
An Iranian oil tanker, which collided with a Chinese cargo vessel while sailing in East China Sea, burns on for a third straight day as dire environmental conditions hamper an ongoing search and rescue operation.
Sanchi was carrying 136,000 tons of condensates, a highly flammable crude derivative, when it collided with grain-laden CF Crystal about 160 nautical miles off China’s coast near Shanghai on Sunday.
The body of only one Iranian crew member has been found near the vessel so far, with 31 others still unaccounted for.
According to China’s Ministry of Transport, inclement weather and high waves were getting in the way of the rescue mission, which has enlisted 13 vessels.
The search-and-rescue vessels are “carrying out an uninterrupted search within 900 square nautical miles” of the tanker, it said on Tuesday.
Earlier, the Ministry said the Chinese vessel was carrying 21 sailors and 64,000 tons of grain from the United States to the Guangdong Province. It said the ship had “not suffered damage endangering her safety” and that her crew had been rescued.
There are concerns that the tanker might explode leading to an environmental disaster, which could be unprecedented in scope over the past several decades.
The tanker “is in danger of explosion and sinking, and the toxic gas...is very harmful to rescue workers on the scene,” authorities have warned.
Chinese state media CCTV showed footage on Monday of boats dousing the flames with water as plumes of thick dark smoke billowed from the tanker.
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