News / China

Chineses ships scramble to clean-up massive oil spill from sunken Iranin ship

Monday, 15 January 2018 10:39 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 15 January 2018 10:42 AM ]

This handout picture taken and released on January 12, 2018 by the Transport Ministry of China shows the Chinese firefighting vessel spraying foam on the burning oil tanker Shanchi at sea off the coast of eastern China. (Via AFP)

Beijing has dispatched ships to the scene of a sunken Iranian oil tanker in the East China Sea to contain pollution caused by a massive oil spill covering up to 50 square miles amid fears of devastating damage to marine life.

The Iranian ship, Sanchi -- carrying 136,000 tons (almost one million barrels) of ultra light crude oil from Iran -- had been in flames for eight days, since it collided with a cargo ship off the coast of China on 6 January. The vessel finally went down on Sunday after a new and massive fire erupted, sending a cloud of black smoke as high as one kilometer (3,280 feet) above the East China Sea.

The fire from the sunken tanker was extinguished on Monday, according to China Central Television (CCTV), but Chinese authorities say there are still concerns about major pollution to the sea bed and surrounding waters off Chinese coast.

Two ships sprayed chemical agents aimed at dissolving the oil, CCTV said.

“This (clean-up) work is one of our focuses,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang. “It is also a priority area of our efforts. No one wants to see a large-scale secondary disaster.” He further said that the cause of the accident was under investigation.

Smoke and flames coming from the burning oil tanker, Sanchi, at sea off the coast of eastern China on January 14, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

The spill was 11.5 miles long and up to 4.6 miles wide and located east of the submerged ship, CCTV reported. This would amount to an area of some 50 square miles (129 square kilometers), it added.

“The oil spill situation is very serious,” CCTV quoted a reporter on board a plane as saying.

Condensate, the term describes a range of light crude oils, is toxic and different form black crude that is often seen in oil spills. Condensate is also considerably more explosive than regular crude.

If trapped underwater it could seriously harm the marine environment. The Sanchi’s fuel source also poses a major threat.

Smoke and flames rise to sky from the burning oil tanker, Sanchi, on January 14, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

According to Alaska-based oil spill consultant Richard Steiner, the accident was “the single largest environmental release of petroleum condensate in history.”

“I don’t know of any condensate spill into a marine environment larger than 1,000 tonnes, and most that we know of have been less than one tonne,” he said.

The tanker, a Panama-flagged vessel owned and operated by National Iranian Tanker, was headed to South Korea to deliver its cargo. It had a crew of 32, including 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis, all of whom declared dead on Sunday.

Iranian officials said on Sunday that there was no hope to find the crew members alive. Only three bodies have so far been recovered.

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www.presstv.ir