No survivors as Iranian oil tanker sinks
TEHRAN — A burning 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.
“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.” Three bodies have been recovered from the sea, leaving 29 crew members still unaccounted for.
President Hassan Rouhani expressed his 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 also offered his condolences to the victims’ families, his website, Khamenei.ir, reported Sunday. The government declared that Monday would be a nationwide day of 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 an ultralight 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.
But around noon Sunday, Chinese state media reported that a large explosion shook the Sanchi, and the ship then sank into the sea.
The Chinese say the ship left a 3.8-squaremile area contaminated with oil. However, the condensate oil the ship was carrying readily evaporates or burns off in a fire, reducing the chance of a major oil spill.