Tehran, Iran, May 5
By Kamyar Eghbalnejad - Trend:
Miscalculations made by the CF Crystal’ crew, a Hong Kong-registered bulk freighter that collided with the Iran-operated Sanchi oil tanker in January, caused the vessel to sink off China's eastern coast, the director general of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization said Saturday.
If the Chinese freighter had not diverted its route based on wrong calculations, the incident would have never occurred, Nader Pasandeh told reporters in Tehran.
Saying that this has been confirmed by Iran, Panama and Bangladesh, Pasandeh said, “(The incident took place after) the crew and officers onboard the CF Crystal failed to notice the Sanchi tanker”.
The two ships were also unaware of their navigational changes, he said.
Sanchi, with 32 people -30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis- onboard, collided with the Chinese freight ship in the East China Sea on January 6 and caught fire after a huge explosion.
The Panama-registered tanker was carrying 136,000 tons of condensate, an ultra-light crude that is highly flammable, to South Korea. It sank on January 14 after the spread of fire to new oil condensate tanks created blazes as high as 100 meters and increased temperature to 350 degrees Celsius (660 degrees Fahrenheit).
