Footage shows the Iranian oil tanker Sanchi burning in the East China Sea following a weekend collision with a cargo ship. The Chinese government said difficult weather is complicating the search for several missing crew members. Video: CCTV

BEIJING—Chinese authorities said a large Iranian oil tanker that collided with a cargo ship in the East China Sea over the weekend was at risk of explosion and sinking.

In an online statement posted Monday, the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration said that areas surrounding the Sanchi tanker were still burning, giving off a poisonous gas that was hindering rescue work. </s> BEIJING—Chinese authorities warned Monday that a large Iranian oil tanker that collided with a cargo ship in the East China Sea over the weekend was at risk of explosion and sinking.

In a statement posted online, the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration said that areas surrounding the Sanchi tanker were still burning, as well as giving off poisonous gas that hindered rescue work. </s> An Iranian oil tanker sunk today after burning for more than a week, leaving a slick of oil to on fire in surrounding waters.

The collision happened last Saturday - 114 miles off China's coast, near Shanghai - between an oil tanker called the Sanchi and a Chinese freighter.

Two bodies were recovered from the tanker yesterday.

Another body, presumed to be one of the Sanchi's sailors, was found on Monday and brought to Shanghai for identification.

The Sanchi's crew consisted of 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis.

All 21 crew members of the Chinese freighter were reported safe.

A report today quoted Mahmoud Rastad, the chief of Iran's maritime agency, as saying: 'There is no hope of finding survivors.'

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

It 'suddenly ignited' at noon, according to China Central Television (CCTV), and sunk before 5pm. It had been adrift and on fire following the accident with the freighter CF Crystal.

China's State Oceanic Administration said that because the hull of the ship had detonated, a large amount of oil in surrounding waters was on fire, reports the official Xinhua news agency.

The administration said it would widen its search area and 'quickly ascertain the spread and drift of overflowing oil' from the shipwreck.

The Sanchi's crew consisted of 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad, Javad Zarif, that 'as long as there is 1 percent of hope, China will continue to make 100 percent effort' to rescue and recover other members of the crew.

The CF Crystal was carrying grain from the United States. </s> An Iranian oil tanker burning for more than a week in the East China Sea exploded and sank on Sunday, Chinese state television reported.

The Sanchi erupted into flames after colliding with a Hong Kong-registered freighter on January 6, CCTV reported.

China’s transport ministry said the tanker “suddenly exploded” around noon on Sunday and was quickly engulfed in fire, with the smoke and flames rising as high 1km (3,300 feet).

An Iranian official also said on Sunday there was no chance of finding alive any of the tanker’s 32 crew members.

Two bodies recovered from oil tanker ablaze in East China Sea

“There is no hope of finding survivors among the members of the crew,” Mohammad Rastad, spokesman for the Iranian rescue team sent to Shanghai, told Iran’s state broadcaster.

The Sanchi, carrying 136,000 tonnes of light crude oil from Iran, collided with the CF Crystal, a Hong Kong-registered bulk freighter, 160 nautical miles east of Shanghai.

It remains unclear if there has been a significant oil leak into the sea.

Rastad said information from members of the Crystal crew suggested all the personnel on the Sanchi were killed in the first hour of the accident “due to the explosion and the release of gas”.

Oil tanker ablaze in East China Sea could burn for a month

“Despite our efforts, it has not been possible to extinguish the fire and recover the bodies due to repeated explosions and gas leaks,” he said.

“Two-thirds of the tanker is submerged, and the fire has spread to the entirety of the ship, and we can no longer approach it.” </s> BEIJING, Jan 14 (Reuters) - A burning Iranian oil tanker that had drifted into Japan’s exclusive economic zone has sunk after a collision on Jan. 6, Chinese state television said on Sunday.

The stricken tanker, called the Sanchi, which had been adrift and on fire for more than a week following the accident with another vessel in the East China Sea, had “suddenly ignited” around noon (0400 GMT), China Central Television said. (Reporting by Michael Martina and Tina Qiao; Editing by Christian Schmollinger) </s> There are fears of an environmental disaster in the East China Sea as a tanker continues to leak oil two days after colliding with a cargo ship. Chinese officials have told state media the vessel is in danger of exploding and sinking.

Rescuers attempting to reach the site were being beaten back by toxic clouds, the transportation ministry has said. The crew, 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis, remain missing despite international rescue efforts. The extent of the spill and environmental hazard are still unclear. The vessel was still ablaze on Monday morning.

The tanker had been carrying an ultra-light form of oil known as condensate which in the case of a spill can be more dangerous for the environment than regular crude. “Condensate is more likely to evaporate and mix in with the water,” John Driscoll of JTD Energy Services told the BBC. “It also can be colour- and odourless – so it is a lot harder to detect, contain and clean up.”

Though Panama-registered, the tanker Sanchi belongs to an Iranian company. The Sanchi was carrying 136,000 tonnes of Iranian oil when the vessel collided with a Chinese cargo ship on Saturday night, 165 nautical miles east of Shanghai.

The 21-strong crew of the Chinese ship were rescued. China has sent several ships to carry out search-and-rescue operations while South Korea helped with a coast guard ship and a helicopter. The US Navy had also sent a military aircraft to help with the rescue efforts. </s> Beijing — The Iranian oil tanker Sanchi sank into the East China Sea on Sunday afternoon after a blast, causing a "serious" oil spill that covered 10km², state television reported, citing China’s State Oceanic Administration.

The oil from the tanker was still burning, China Central Television reported on Sunday. A State Oceanic Administration official reached by phone said the administration is collecting data from the spill area, and the administration said on its website that the spill will have an impact on the environment. All 32 crew members on board the vessel that had been burning for a week were presumed dead, said an Iranian official on Sunday.

The Sanchi was ferrying almost 1-million barrels of condensate — a highly flammable hydrocarbon liquid that is used in petrochemical production — when it collided with bulk carrier CF Crystal off the coast of Shanghai on January 6.

If all the condensate leaked into the sea instead of burning off, the spill would be one of the biggest from a ship over the past five decades. The cargo size of about 150,000 metric tons aboard the Sanchi exceeds the 35,000 tons of crude that the Exxon Valdez spilled near Alaska — the biggest such incident in US history. That 1989 spill led to the destruction of thousands of marine fauna and long-term environmental damage. </s> BEIJING
• An Iranian oil tanker ablaze off China's east coast was at risk of exploding or sinking yesterday, as fears grew for 32 missing sailors amid warnings of a potential environmental disaster.

The huge fire was still raging yesterday morning around the stricken vessel, which was carrying 136,000 tonnes of light crude oil, some 36 hours after it collided with a cargo ship. But China's English-language state broadcaster CGTN later posted a video on Twitter showing the fire seemingly under control as a second vessel sprayed it with water.

Earlier, the Transport Ministry said rescuers trying to locate the crew of 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis were being beaten back by toxic clouds. The Panamanian-flagged tanker Sanchi is "in danger of exploding or sinking", it said.

Rescuers had recovered one unidentified body as of yesterday afternoon, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang. "Conditions... are not that favourable for search and rescue work," he said, adding that "we are also investigating how to prevent any secondary disaster".

Mr Alireza Irvash, from Iran's consulate in Shanghai, told Iranian state broadcaster IRIB the body "cannot be easily identified" even though the victim had a fire safety vest on.

The accident happened last Saturday evening, 160 nautical miles east of the city. The tanker, operated by Iran's Glory Shipping, was heading for South Korea when it collided with a Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship, the CF Crystal.

As the Chinese authorities raced to contain the ship's leaking oil, experts expressed fears the accident could create an environmental disaster. If all of the Sanchi's cargo spills, it would be the biggest oil slick from a ship for decades. </s> BEIJING -- The fire from a sunken Iranian tanker ship in the East China Sea has burned out, a Chinese transport ministry spokesman said Monday, although concerns remain about possible major pollution to the sea bed and surrounding waters.

The spokesman, who identified himself only by his surname, Zhao, said the fire ceased around noon. Earlier footage showed huge clouds of thick smoke rising from the oil slick that had been burning for more than a week.

Just three bodies from the tanker Sanchi's crew of 32, composed of 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis, have been recovered.

The cause of the Jan. 6 collision between the Sanchi and the Chinese freighter CF Crystal, which happened 160 miles east of Shanghai, remains unclear. All 21 crewmembers aboard the freighter were reported safe.

Rescuers boarded the Sanchi on Saturday morning to recover two bodies, but a large explosion shook the ship around noon on Sunday and it sank within hours. High temperatures had prevented rescuers from entering the crew quarters. Another body was recovered from the water earlier last week.

The ship was carrying a type of hydrocarbon liquid known as natural gas condensate and left a 3.8-square-mile area contaminated with oil, according to Chinese authorities. Condensate is highly toxic but readily evaporates or burns off in a fire. If trapped underwater, however, it could seriously harm the marine environment, while the ship's fuel source also poses a major threat.

The ship's voice data recorder, which functions like a "black box" on aircraft, was reportedly recovered on Saturday, possibly helping shed light on how the collision and resulting fire occurred.

Zhao, who is deputy head of the ministry's press office, said new photos and video footage showed the fire had gone out entirely and said an investigation into the disaster would be conducted according to the "strictest international standards."

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said rescue operations had been converted at noon to a search-and-recovery effort. Two ships were on the scene spraying foam detergents to dissolve oil remaining on the surface.

Ma Jun, director of the private Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs in Beijing, said the degree of environmental damage caused by the disaster depends on how much fuel was left in the tanker and the direction of winds and currents.

"The key issue is how much exactly the condensate oil has been left after all the burning and explosion, and how much of that sank together to the bottom of the sea," Ma said. "We need to keep an eye to prevent (toxins) being transferred to the fishing ground."

The disaster has transfixed an Iran still reeling from days of protests and unrest that swept the country at the start of the year.

Families of the sailors wept and screamed at the headquarters of the National Iranian Tanker Co. in Tehran, the company that owns the Sanchi. Some needed to be taken by ambulance to nearby hospitals as they were so overwhelmed by the news.

State TV earlier quoted Mahmoud Rastad, the chief of Iran's maritime agency, as saying: "There is no hope of finding survivors among the (missing) 29 members of the crew."

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei both expressed their condolences, with Rouhani calling on relevant government agencies to investigate the tragedy and take any necessary legal measures. The government also announced Monday as a nationwide day of public mourning over the disaster.

Chinese officials blamed poor weather for complicating their rescue efforts. Thirteen ships, including one from South Korea and two from Japan, had joined in the rescue and cleanup effort.

The Panamanian-flagged, 85,462-ton tanker has operated under five different names since it was built in 2008, according to the U.N.-run International Maritime Organization and the industry website Maritime Traffic.

It's the second collision for a ship from the National Iranian Tanker Co. in less than a year and a half. In August 2016, one of its tankers collided with a Swiss container ship in the Singapore Strait, damaging both ships but causing no injuries or oil spill.
MV Sanchi is still ablaze this morning and it continues to leak oil. Chinese officials mention the danger of explosion and sinking.