According to South Korea’s Ministry of Ocean and Fisheries on a statement submitted to Reuters on Wednesday, the Iranian oil tanker located in the East China Sea could burn for a month. The said tanker collided with a freight ship that caused it to burst into flames, since then, the tanker is ablaze for four days now.
Several rescue boats are scrambled to rescue survivors who are stranded. The boats have to face strong winds, poisonous fumes and towering waves to conduct a search and rescue. So far, it is reported that there are 31 sailors missing. Concerns are escalating whether the tanker could explode or sink anytime.
As stated by official Park Sung-Dong, the flames are expected to last for two weeks or a month taking previous tanker incidents on mind.
Ministry officials are worried about the bunker fuel which may leak into the open ocean and contaminate the water if the ship sinks.
The tanker Sanchi (IMO:9356608), which is run by a top Iranian shipping operator, the National Iranian Tanker Co, has collided with the CF Crystal (IMO:9497050) on Saturday which was shipping grain from the U S. The incident happened 300km or 160 nautical miles off the coast of Shanghai.
The tanker Sanchi was carrying 136,000 tonnes of condensate which is equivalent to approximately 1 million barrels valued at about $60 million.
According to the Chinese government on Tuesday, no significant leaks were found yet and the condensate was bruning off rapidly causing it to leave a small amount of residue.
Ministry official Park stated that an oil leak spreading to South Korea is highly doubtful at the moment since the tanker has moved 100 km or 62 miles to the southeast.