BEIJING (Reuters) - A tanker carrying Iranian oil and run by the country’s top oil shipping firm was ablaze and spewing cargo into the East China Sea on Sunday after colliding with a Chinese freight ship, leaving the tanker’s 32 crew members missing, the Chinese government said. The missing — 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis — are all from the tanker Sanchi, which spilled oil and was floating while still burning early Sunday, said Chinese maritime authorities, who dispatched police vessels and three cleaning ships to the scene. The Chinese maritime authorities immediately rushed eight rescue ships to the site of accident while South Korea joined hands in the operation as well by sending a plane and a coast guard ship. (Graphic: Map showing ship collision location - tmsnrt.rs/2CBgqai)

The Sanchi, run by the country’s top oil shipping operator, collided with the CF Crystal about 160 nautical miles off the coast near Shanghai and the mouth of the Yangtze River Delta on Saturday evening, the Chinese Ministry of Transportation said in a statement. On other hand, the cargo ship CF Crystal was damaged in the accident as well but as per China’s transport ministry, the safety of the freighter was not jeopardised and all of the 21 crew members on board were successfully rescued from the spot. CF Crystal’s 21 crew members, all Chinese nationals, were rescued and the ship suffered “non-critical” damage, China’s transport ministry said. It was not immediately clear how much environmental damage had been caused or the volume of oil spilled into the sea. "The accident caused oil tanker 'SANCHI' to catch on fire, tilting to the right, losing contact with the crew," it said. The 274 meter-long (nearly 890 feet-long) SANCHI was carrying 136,000 tons of oil from Iran to South Korea when it collided with the CF Crystal, which had been transporting food from the United States to the Chinese city of Guangdong, it said. The tanker has operated under five different names in the time since it was built in 2008, according the U.N.-run International Maritime Organization. The IMO listed its registered owner as Hong Kong-based Bright Shipping Ltd., on behalf of the National Iranian Tanker Co., a publicly traded company based in Tehran. “We cannot say all of them have died, because rescue teams are there and providing services.” The official said the tanker was owned by the National Iranian Tanker Co. and had been rented by a South Korean company, Hanwha Total Co. It was due to arrive at Daesan in South Korea from Kharg Island in Iran on Sunday, according to Reuters ship tracking.
Thirty-two sailors are missing after Iranian oil tanker MV Sanchi and Chinese freighter CF-Crystal collide off the east coast of China. The collision ignites the oil tanker, which carried a 136,000-tonne load.