Iranian oil tanker collides with Chinese freighter in East China Sea,32 missing

An Iranian oil tanker run by the country’s top oil shipping firm caught fire and began spewing cargo into the East China Sea on Sunday after it collided with a Chinese freight ship, Reuters reported. The tanker’s 32 crew members are missing, the Chinese government said.

The accident occurred around 8 pm on Saturday about 160 nautical miles east of the Yangtze



River’s estuary, the Transport Ministry said. The 21 crew members on the Chinese bulk freighter were rescued.

Chinese maritime authorities dispatched eight vessels, including three specialised cleaning vessels, for search and rescue operations after the accident. South Korea, too, sent a coast guard ship and a fixed-wing aircraft to help, Xinhua reported.