Burning Iranian tanker explodes and sinks, ‘no hope of finding crew alive’
Iranian official says all personnel on the vessel were probably killed in the first hour of collision with a Hong Kong-registered freighter
An Iranian oil tanker on fire for over a week in the East China Sea exploded and sank on Sunday, officials said, with little chance of survival for the nearly 30 missing crew.
The Shanghai Maritime Search and Rescue Centre said a blast erupted on the Panama-registered tanker Sanchi at around noon on Sunday, with the vessel confirmed to have sunk by 5pm, Chinese state media reported.
The tanker, carrying 136,000 tonnes of light crude oil from Iran, initially caught fire after colliding with the Hong Kong-registered bulk freighter CF Crystal 160 nautical miles east of Shanghai on January 6.
On Sunday, China Central Television aired footage of the tanker engulfed in flames and dense smoke after the explosion, with a plume rising as high as a 3km (1.86 miles).