Sanchi (ship)
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The Sanchi (Ch.桑吉號lit., "mulberry happiness") was an under Panamanian flag propelled tanker of the Iranian state oil company NIOC . The ship caught fire on January 6, 2018 after a collision with the Chinese bulk carrier CF Crystal off the coast of China and sank on January 14, 2018.
ship
The ship was built by Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co., LTD under the hull number S316. The keel was laid on October 29, 2007, the launch on February 5, 2008. The ship was completed on April 24, 2008. The tanker was operated by the National Iranian Oil Company .
Average 2018
On January 6, 2018, the Sanchi collided about 160 nautical miles off Shanghai in the East China Sea with the Hong Kong - flagged freighter CF Crystal . The Chinese ship was en route from the United States to Guangdong in China and had 64,000 tons of grain on board. After the collision, the tanker caught fire. The extinguishing work was difficult because of the great amount of heat and smoke and the risk of explosion. On January 12, 2018, another explosion and ongoing fire were reported on board. Due to local conditions, the Sanchi drifted away from the Chinese coast and reached the area of the exclusive economic zone of Japan around the same day northwest of the island of Amami-Ōshima .
Ships owned by Chinese authorities, two oil spill vessels, merchant ships and various fishing boats took part in the rescue and recovery operation. A South Korean Coast Guard ship also participated in the search. While all 21 crew members of the CF Crystal were rescued, the 32 crew members of the Sanchi are missing. One crew member was found dead, according to the Iranian Organization for Ports and Shipping. Two more bodies were found on deck on January 13th, and the voyage data recorder was also found .
The Guardian later wrote of the operation: “There were two conflicting goals in handling the tanker: to put out the fire and save the crew, or to burn as much oil as possible and thereby limit marine pollution. In the end it was a mixture of both. "
On January 14th, the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that the ship had sunk. The Iranian Maritime Authority then gave up hope that crew members could have survived by retreating from fire, explosions and toxic fumes in the engine room that was not directly affected. Presumably the entire crew of 30 sailors from Iran and two from Bangladesh died in the accident . The lifting of the wreck is not planned.
The CF Crystal sailors were rescued by a Chinese fishing boat after the collision. The ship was towed into the port of Zhoushan .
Environmental impact
At the time of the collision, the Sanchi was loaded with 136,000 tons of light oil with a commercial value of US $ 60 million for the South Korean company Hanwha Total Petrochemical Co. In addition, there were significant amounts of marine fuel on board, which can cause great environmental damage.
Before the sinking, Simon Boxall of the National Oceanography Center at the University of Southampton told the BBC that the substances on board would kill the bacteria that could break down oil. He had expressed the hope that the fire could be extinguished and the ship saved from sinking to avert environmental hazards.
After the sinking, oil leaked from the tanker. At first, an oil slick several square kilometers formed . Three days after the sinking there were two oil spills with an area of 40 and 69 km².
China planned to send a submarine to track down leaks in the tanker and, if possible, to seal them.
Calculations of the amount loaded and the consistency of the oil spill
An undefined amount of the spilled oil was burned. If the density of the light oil is approximated to a value of 0.8 t / m³, assuming that the charged light oil has flowed out completely, an average layer thickness of the thin oil of no more than 1.6 mm is calculated. The comparatively thin film reduces its thickness over time through evaporation (at least of highly volatile components) and forms flammable oil vapor and explosive mixtures when mixed with air. The wind distributes the evaporated amount.
Impact Assessment and Chinese Information Policy
The exact circumstances of the accident initially remained unclear to the public. According to tagesschau.de, the Chinese authorities initially downplayed possible environmental damage.
Stephan Lutter from WWF Germany explained: "The condensate that escapes from the sunken tanker is poisonous for marine mammals, fish, turtles and sea birds". It should be noted that the tanker sank on the threshold between the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea. The ocean currents are complex here, which is why it is difficult to estimate and hardly predict where the poisonous oil slick will drift. “The Yellow Sea is one of the most productive marine ecosystems, it has rich fishing grounds and is an important hub for migratory birds. Manatees, porpoises and sea turtles are also native here. Because, like the North Sea, it is a shallow sea with tidal areas, the Yellow Sea is particularly vulnerable due to the poisonous oil film. "
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Oil tanker threatens to explode: Large-scale fire extinguishing and search operation orf.at, January 8, 2018, accessed January 8, 2018.
- ↑ DNV GL Vessel Register. Retrieved January 8, 2018 .
- ^ Iranian tanker collision and fire, crew still missing, China . In: Maritime Bulletin . January 7, 2018 ( maritimebulletin.net [accessed January 8, 2018]).
- ↑ Another explosion on a burning tanker , orf.at, January 12, 2018, accessed on January 13, 2018.
- ↑ Yuka Obayashi: Stricken Iranian oil tanker drifts into Japan's economic zone: coast guard. Reuters, January 12, 2018, accessed January 13, 2018.
- ↑ Chinese salvagers recover two bodies from flaming Iranian tankers. Reuters, January 13, 2018, accessed January 14, 2018.
- ^ Benjamin Haas: East China Sea oil tanker disaster: what it means for the environment. January 16, 2018, accessed January 18, 2018 .
- ↑ Burning oil tanker 'sinks off China'. BBC News , January 14, 2018, accessed January 15, 2018.
- ↑ Hope of Finding Sanchi Survivors Wanes. World Maritime News, January 15, 2018, accessed January 15, 2018.
- ^ Oil tanker "Sanchi" stays on the seabed , THB - Deutsche Schiffahrts-Zeitung, February 2, 2018.
- ↑ Rescuers resume search for survivors from blazing Iran oil tanker , Reuters, January 11, 2018.
- ↑ Iran Oil Ship at Risk of Sinking as Buyer Seeks Other Supply . In: Bloomberg.com . January 7, 2018 ( bloomberg.com [accessed January 8, 2018]).
- ↑ a b Burning tanker 'in danger of exploding' . In: BBC News . January 8, 2018 ( bbc.com [accessed January 8, 2018]).
- ↑ Wide oil spill after the sinking of the tanker “Sanchi” , Zeit-Online, January 15, 2018, accessed on January 18, 2018.
- ↑ Second oil spill after the tank accident off China , orf.at, January 17, 2018, accessed on January 17, 2018.
- ↑ tagesschau.de: China: Oil spills are spreading after a tanker accident. Retrieved January 18, 2018 .
- ↑ Oil spill in the East China Sea . January 18, 2018 ( wwf.de [accessed January 18, 2018]).
Coordinates: 31 ° 48 ′ 0 ″ N , 126 ° 24 ′ 0 ″ E