Sanchi oil spill continues to spread
It has been almost a fortnight days since the NITC tanker Sanchi sank in the East China Sea after an explosion onboard, and the oil spill caused by the incident continues to spread off the Chinese coastline leading to increasing environmental concerns.
According to State Oceanic Administration of China, more oil slicks have been spotted at locations between 500m to 2km southwest of the ship wreckage site.
Environmental experts have warned that the oil spill could cause long-term impact on the marine environment, especially the unpredictable expansion of the oil slick could endanger marine organism in the waters of Zhoushan, China’s largest fishery hub.
On Thursday, the maritime authorities of China, Panama, Iran and Hong Kong signed an agreement to jointly investigate the collision incident. The black boxes for the Sanchi and the CF Crystal have been opened and are being decoded while interviews with crew from CF Crystal started on Friday.