Thirty-two crew members on an Iranian oil tanker were reported missing after it collided with a Chinese freighter off China\u2019s east coast on Saturday night, state media reported on Sunday.<\/p>\n
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In this photo provided by the Korean Coast Guard, the Panama-registered tanker “Sanchi” is seen ablaze after a collision with a Hong Kong-registered freighter off China’s eastern coast Sunday, Jan. 7, 2018. The oil tanker collided with a bulk freighter and caught fire off China’s eastern coast<\/a>, leaving its entire crew of 32 missing, most of them Iranians, authorities said. (Korea Coast Guard via AP)<\/p>\n The collision, between the Panama-registered tanker Sanchi and the Hong Kong-registered bulk freighter CF Crystal, occurred at about 8 pm on Saturday in the East China Sea, roughly 160 nautical miles east of the Yangtze River Delta, Xinhua reported, citing a statement from China\u2019s Ministry of Transport.<\/p>\n The 21 members of the Hong Kong-registered bulk freighter CF Crystal were rescued. Photo: Handout<\/p>\n Thirty Iranians and two Bangladeshis were missing from the oil tanker, the report said. The 21 members of the freighter\u2019s crew \u2013 all Chinese nationals \u2013 were rescued.<\/p>\n After the collision a fire broke out on the tanker, which was still burning on Sunday, the statement said.<\/p>\n \u201cSanchi is floating and burning as of [9AM]. There is an oil slick and we are pushing forward with rescue efforts,\u201d the ministry said, without detailing the size of the slick.<\/p>\n Thirty-two people, mostly Iranians, were missing after the collision\u00a0\u00a0Photo Credit:\u00a0XINHUA\/REX\/SHUTTERSTOCK<\/p>\n Thick clouds of dark smoke could be seen billowing out of the Sanchi tanker, engulfing the vessel as rescue efforts were hampered by bad weather and fire on and around the ship, Mohammad Rastad, head of Iran\u2019s Ports and Maritime Organization, told Iranian television.<\/p>\n A Korean Coast Guard official confirmed the tanker was still raging at 1PM.<\/p>\n An official from Iran\u2019s Ministry of Pet<\/a>roleum said it had no information about the fate of the tanker\u2019s crew, Associated Press reported.<\/p>\n \u201cWe cannot say all of them have died, because rescue teams are there and providing services,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n FILE – An Iranian Revolutionary Guard speedboat passes near an oil tanker, July 2, 2012. A collision late Saturday off the eastern coast of China left 32 crew members missing. Photo credit: VOANews<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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