China Daily via REUTERS
Iranian oil tanker Sanchi is seen engulfed in fire in the East China Sea, in this January 13, 2018 picture provided by Shanghai Maritime Search and Rescue Centre and released by China Daily
- An Iranian oil tanker carrying 122,000 tons of oil sank after it collided with a Hong Kong-based tanker in the East China Sea.
- The collision caused an explosion that sent thousands of tons of oil spilling into the ocean.
- The tanker was carrying condensate, a type of ultra-light crude oil that is more difficult to clean up than heavy crude oil.
- It's still not clear how big the spill will become, or what the impact on marine life will be.
An oil spill off the coast of China is now the world's largest since the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which spilled millions of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.
A 900-foot Iranian oil tanker called the Sanchi was carrying over 122,000 tons of condensate - a refined form of ultra-light crude oil - when it collided with a Chinese cargo ship earlier this month. The crash caused the tanker to explode into flames, killing all 32 crew members aboard the ship and dumping millions of gallons of oil into the East China Sea. The tanker slipped beneath the waves on Sunday, eight days after the collision.
China's State Oceanic Administration said in a statement that the oil spill more than tripled in size over the weekend. There are currently more than three oil slicks with a surface area of approximately 332 square kilometers, or 128 miles. That's up from 101 square kilometers (38 square miles) on Wednesday. It's still not clear how large the spill will become, as much of the oil may have burned up in the initial collision.
Here's what the scene looks like: