Iran oil tanker explodes, sinks off coast of China
32 dead as result of Jan. 6 collision with Chinese freighter.
An Iranian official acknowledged there was “no hope” of missing sailors surviving the disaster, which has transfixed the country.
A burning TEHRAN, IRAN —
Iranian oil tanker exploded and sank Sunday after more than a week listing off the coast of China, as an Iranian official acknowledged there was “no hope” of missing sailors surviving the disaster.
The collision and disaster of the Sanchi, which carried 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis, had 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 private company that owns the Sanchi. Some were taken by ambulance to hospitals as they were so overwhelmed by the news.
“Thirty-two people died without a funeral and without coffins! They burned to ashes while their families were wailing here!” cried one woman who didn’t give her name. 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.”
President Hassan Rouhani expressed condolences and called on government agencies to investigate the tragedy and take any necessary legal measures, according to state TV. In a message, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed his condolences and sympathy with the victims’ families, his own website, Khamenei.ir, reported Sunday. The government declared Monday a nationwide day of public mourning.
The cause of the Jan. 6 collision between the Sanchi and the Chinese freighter CF Crystal, 160 miles off the coast of Shanghai, remains unclear. The CF Crystal had 21 crew members, all of whom were reported safe.
But the Sanchi, carrying nearly 1 million barrels of a gassy, ultra-light oil bound for South Korea, burst into flames.
Chinese officials blamed poor weather for complicating their rescue efforts. Thirteen ships, including one from South Korea and two from Japan, engaged in the rescue and cleanup effort Saturday.
But around noon Sunday, Chinese state media reported that a large explosion shook the Sanchi, its hull and superstructure completely stripped of paint by the flames. The ship then sank into the sea.