21:24, 09-Jan-2018
East China Sea Collision: Analysts concerned about its environmental damage
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As we mentioned, the oil leaking from the stricken tanker has drawn concerns of a possible explosion, which would have environmental consequences.
The tanker was carrying the equivalent of about one million barrels of condensate, a type of oil which is considerably more explosive than regular crude. The tanker also had on board a load of heavy and toxic shipping fuel. The potential environmental damage is, of course, still unknown due to the difficulty in estimating just how much oil was leaked.
But worryingly, according to analysts, if its entire cargo is shed, it would be the biggest oil spill from a ship in decades, and could kill marine life across a vast area. As well as that, the clean-up procedure would be extremely complex if the ship sinks before the oil burns off. The collision happened near China's largest ocean fishery base, Zhoushan, which is located to the east of Hangzhou Bay.