Update: Burning Oil Tanker Sinks, Hope Fades For Missing Crew Members

The Chinese Ministry of Transport reported that the Iranian oil tanker that collided with another vessel in the East China Sea sank on Sunday.

Tanker vessel Sanchi had been burning for more than a week after the collision. It exploded and sank, leaving “no hope” for finding missing crew members. The Iranian officials said the missing crew members have been presumed dead.

Image credits: @PDChina / Twitter

According to the official Xinhua news agency, the hull of the ship had detonated, leading to a large amount of oil on fire in the surrounding area. On Saturday, the Chinese Salvage team recovered two bodies from the tanker. Ship’s voice data recorder has also been recovered.

The cause of the collision between the Sanchi and the Chinese cargo ship CF Crystal on 6th Jan, off the coast of Shanghai, still remains unclear. The CF Crystal had 21 crew members, all of whom were reported safe.

The National Iranian Tanker Co. owned tanker was carrying almost 1 million barrels of condensate, an ultra-light crude oil, to South Korea.

It collided with the CF Crystal, which was carrying grain from the United States, about160 nautical miles (184 km) off China’s coast near Shanghai.

Reference: Reuters/ Time