Chinese salvagers recover two bodies from flaming Iranian tanker

 

A rescue ship works to extinguish the fire on the stricken Iranian oil tanker Sanchi in the East China Sea, on January 10, 2018 in this photo provided by Japan’s 10th Regional Coast Guard. Picture taken on January 10, 2018. 10th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters/Handout via REUTERS

 

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A Chinese salvage team recovered two bodies on Saturday from a stricken Iranian oil tanker, that was still blazing a week after it caught fire and was left adrift following a collision in the East China Sea, state news agency Xinhua reported.

 

The four members of the salvage team wore respirators to board the "Sanchi", where they found the two bodies on the deck.

 

They tried to get to the living quarters but were driven back by temperatures on the burning ship of around 89 Celsius (192 Fahrenheit), Xinhua said.

 

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif by telephone that "as long as there is 1 percent of hope, China will continue to make 100 percent effort" in the rescue effort, according to a report on the ministry website.

 

The body of a mariner suspected to be from the ship was recovered on Monday and sent to Shanghai for identification. The rest of the crew, which included 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis, remains missing.

 

The salvage team recovered the voyage data recorder, or "black box" from the bridge, before leaving the vessel less than half an hour after boarding because the wind had shifted and "thick toxic smoke" had complicated the operation, Xinhua said.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-01-13

any mariners on here who want to explain how two ships can collide, with all the modern technology on board

6 minutes ago, mercman24 said:

any mariners on here who want to explain how two ships can collide, with all the modern technology on board

 

Ask the US Navy, they had a few ships collide not so long ago.

The usual reason commercial freighters collide is that the bridge crew, usually only one man because of cost savings have cut the crew to the absolute minimum, have either turned off the radar alarm or don't hear it because they are asleep. 

12 hours ago, mercman24 said:

any mariners on here who want to explain how two ships can collide, with all the modern technology on board

Quite simple really. Over reliance on technology and failed to look out the window.

13 hours ago, janclaes47 said:

 

Ask the US Navy, they had a few ships collide not so long ago.

The US Naval ships run dark, invisible to commercial vessels except for on radar

at close range. These commercial ships by law have AIS and for the life of me, I 

can't understand how they could collide. Both bridges have to be negligent for some

time at the same time. You pick up other vessels from 25+ miles away. The ships name,

size, destination, and projected path along with yours alerts you to any possibility of a collision.

2 hours ago, HarrySeaman said:

The usual reason commercial freighters collide is that the bridge crew, usually only one man because of cost savings have cut the crew to the absolute minimum, have either turned off the radar alarm or don't hear it because they are asleep. 

That I'm also asking myself - IMO's SOLAS rules require an AIS system on all ships above 300 GT....

 

Even small yachts are using it today.

 

No need to use RADAR plotting, fine tuning and noise filtering - collision avoidance is easy with AIS providing collision alarms and CPA (closest point of approach). Integrated in the bridge's ECDIS system any kid used to playing video games could interpret the information.

 

Edited January 14, 20188 yr by BernieOnTour

When you fall asleep all the tech in the world will not help.

Geezer