Iran Navy Team to Visit China over Burning Oil Tanker
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An Iranian lawmaker said a team from the Navy will be dispatched to the site of a ship crash in the East China Sea that caused a roaring fire at an Iranian oil tanker, which is still burning after four days.
Rapporteur of the Iranian parliament’s Energy Commission Asadollah Qarekhani told Tasnim on Wednesday that the Iranian naval team will go to the disaster site following talks between Navy Commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi and China’s Navy.
He also accused Chinese of inadequate action to control the fire, saying they appear to be willing to see the Iranian oil tanker’s whole cargo burnt to contain the oil spill.
The MP announced on Tuesday that Iran has dispatched a delegation to China to examine the conditions of the burning oil tanker.
The Iranian oil tanker, Sanchi, which collided with a Chinese freight ship in the East China Sea on Saturday is still on fire on Wednesday.
Rescuers from China, South Korea, Japan and even the US Army have been struggling to control the blaze and find the survivors, if any.
The Panama-registered tanker was carrying 136,000 tons of condensate, an ultra-light crude that is highly flammable and to South Korea, equivalent to about 1 million barrels and worth about $60 million.
Bad weather at the sea has made the rescue and cleanup efforts difficult.
On Wednesday, Reuters quoted South Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries as saying that the stricken oil tanker could burn for as long as one month.
