Worst Oil Spill in Decades Hits East China Sea

On January 14, 2018, an Iranian oil tanker, dubbed 'Sanchi', carrying 136,000 tons of oil - the equivalent of nearly 1 million barrels of ultra-light crude, plus its own fuel - collided with a freighter in the East China Sea, killing all 32 crew onboard.

The ship burned, spewing its cargo, for more than a week before sinking in the waters between China, Japan and South Korea.

Authorities have had trouble pinning down how big the spill is, as it changes by the day amid strong ocean currents. But concerns are growing about the potential impact to key fishing grounds and sensitive marine ecosystems off Japan and South Korea, which lie in the projected path of the oil, according to Britain’s National Oceanography Centre. 

"An updated emergency ocean model simulation shows that waters polluted by the sinking Sanchi oil tanker could reach Japan within a month," the center said a report posted on Jan. 16. "The revised simulations suggest that pollution from the spill may be distributed much further and faster than previously thought, and that larger areas of the coast may be impacted."

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References

Reuters. (2018). How Sanchi's spill could spread. [online] Available at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-shipping-spill/how-sanchis-spill-could-spread-idUSKBN1FF1AK [Accessed 9 Feb. 2018].

Zero Hedge. (2018). Asia Is About To Be Hit By The “Worst Oil Tanker Spill In Decades”. [online] Available at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-01-28/sanchi-oil-slick-could-reach-japan-within-month [Accessed 9 Feb. 2018].