The incident could potentially disrupt shipping in and around Shanghai, one of the world’s largest and busiest ports.
BEIJING (Reuters) – A tanker carrying Iranian oil and run by the
country’s top oil shipping firm was ablaze and spewing cargo into
the East China Sea on Sunday after colliding with a Chinese
freight ship, leaving the tanker’s 32 crew members missing, the
Chinese government said.
Thick clouds of dark smoke could be seen billowing out of the
Sanchi tanker, engulfing the vessel as rescue efforts were
hampered by bad weather and fire on and around the ship, Mohammad
Rastad, head of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organisation, told
Iranian television.
The Sanchi, run by the country’s top oil shipping operator,
collided with the CF Crystal about 160 nautical miles off the
coast near Shanghai and the mouth of the Yangtze River Delta on
Saturday evening, the Chinese Ministry of Transportation said in
a statement.
The Panama-registered tanker was sailing from Iran to South
Korea, carrying 136,000 tonnes of condensate, an ultra light
crude. That is equivalent to just under 1 million barrels, worth
about $60 million, based on global crude oil prices.
“Sanchi is floating and burning as of now,” the Chinese ministry
said. “There is an oil slick and we are pushing forward with
rescue efforts.”
It had sent four rescue ships and three cleaning boats to the
site by 9 a.m. (0100 GMT) on Sunday, the ministry added.
Chinese state media CCTV showed pictures of the tanker ablaze and
billowing plumes of thick dark smoke.
South Korea also dispatched a ship and helicopter to help. A
Korean Coast Guard official confirmed the fire was still raging
at 1 p.m. (0500 GMT).
The tanker’s 32 crew members are all Iranian nationals except for
two Bangladeshi nationals, the Chinese transport ministry said.
“There is a wide perimeter of flames around the vessel because of
the spillage and search and rescue efforts are being carried out
with difficulty,” Iran’s Rastad said.
“Unfortunately, up to this moment, there is no news of the crew,”
he said.
CF Crystal’s 21 crew members, all Chinese nationals, were rescued
and the ship suffered “non-critical” damage, China’s transport
ministry said.
Shipping experts said the incident could potentially disrupt
shipping in and around Shanghai, one of the world’s largest and
busiest ports.
It was not immediately clear how much environmental damage had
been caused or the volume of oil spilled into the sea.
The last major oil tanker disaster was the sinking of the
Prestige off Spain in November 2002, which was carrying 77,000
tonnes of heavy fuel oil and caused one of Europe’s worst
environmental catastrophes.
About 63,000 tonnes of its cargo leaked into the Atlantic,
damaging beaches in France, Spain and Portugal and forcing the
closure of Spain’s richest fishing grounds.
That was almost twice the size of the Exxon Valdez spill, which
ravaged Alaska’s coast in 1989.
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