China acts to contain oil leak from tanker
Print Edition
CHINA has reacted quickly to contain oil leaking from an Iranian tanker stricken off its eastern coast yesterday amid warnings the burning ship could spark an environmental disaster.
The Sanchi was carrying 136,000 tons of light crude oil when it collided with a cargo ship on Saturday and erupted into flames about 300 kilometers east of Shanghai.
If all the cargo from the Panamanian-flagged 274-meter tanker spills, it would be the biggest oil slick from a ship in decades and could kill marine life across a vast area, analysts said.
China’s transport ministry said the vessel was still burning yesterday. It released a photo of the Sanchi enveloped in smoke and flames.
“With the ship on fire, it is expected that much of this condensate oil will burn off rather than enter the water,” Greenpeace East Asia said. “If the ship sinks before the oil burns off, the clean-up procedure would be extremely difficult. What is important now is to understand how much of that oil has burned off, and how much is leaking into the sea.”
China’s foreign ministry said on Monday that cleaning ships had been sent to prevent “secondary disasters.”
Authorities widened the search yesterday for 31 missing crew members, with 13 search-and-rescue vessels. The efforts were hampered by poor conditions at sea, the transport ministry said.
The tanker “is in danger of explosion and sinking, and the toxic gas ... is very harmful to rescue workers on the scene,” authorities warned.
The Sanchi was on its way to South Korea when it collided with the CF Crystal, a Hong Kong-registered bulk freighter that was transporting grain. The Crystal’s 21 Chinese crew members were rescued.
A “preliminary assessment” by China’s transport ministry determined that a body found on Monday with a protective garment on it belonged to one of the Sanchi’s crew members.
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