The sea surface of the East China Sea is facing a severe oil spill accident

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The Ministry of Transport of China announced on its official website on January 8 that the Panamanian oil tanker SANCHI collided with the Chinese bulk carrier CF CRYSTAL about 160 nautical miles east of the Yangtze River estuary. “The tanker “Sangi” was carrying approximately 136,000 tons of condensate. The accident caused the entire ship Sangi to catch fire; it is still burning, and there is oil pollution on the sea surface. “The ship “Sangi” carried 32 people, including 30 Iranians and 2 Bangladeshis. On the morning of the 8th, the vessel \"Donghai Jiù 117\" located and recovered the body of a person who had fallen into the water and was wearing a waterproof insulated suit in the area where the incident occurred. It is preliminarily assumed that this person was one of the crew members from the ship \"Sangji\"; identity verification and handover procedures will be carried out in accordance with relevant regulations. The remaining personnel are unaccounted for ； “All 21 crew members of the cargo ship “Changfeng Crystal” have been rescued. At 18:00 on the 8th, the Shanghai Salvage Bureau dispatched the vessel Hua Ji, equipped with protective suits, face masks, and gas detection equipment, to the scene to assist in the search and rescue efforts. The Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration has established a no-sail zone with a radius of 10 nautical miles around the Sanchi, and issued navigation warnings to prevent passing ships from entering this area and causing secondary accidents. The China Maritime Safety Administration has established an accident investigation team to launch the investigation. “The “Changfeng Crystal” ship resumed its voyage on the morning of the 8th, heading for Zhoushan under the escort of the “Donghai Jiuyou 118” ship. “The ship \"Sangji\" is owned by BRIGHT SHIPPING LIMITED of Iran; it is 274 meters long and was sailing from Iran to South Korea ； “The “Changfeng Crystal” is owned by Zhejiang Wenling Changfeng Marine Transportation Co., Ltd. It is 225 meters long and can carry 64,000 tons of grain; it was sailing from the United States to Guangdong in China. There are 21 people on board, all of Chinese nationality. The potential environmental damage caused by this oil spill is not yet clear. Condensate oil, also known as natural gasoline, is the liquid component that condenses from condensate gas fields or associated natural gas in oil fields. Its main components are mixtures of hydrocarbons with carbon atoms ranging from C5 to C11+, and it contains small amounts of hydrocarbons with more than C8 atoms, as well as impurities such as sulfur dioxide, thiophenes, thiol compounds, sulfides, and polysulfides. Several foreign media outlets say that this incident could surpass all previous oil spills in history. Fishing may be banned for a long time within hundreds of kilometers of the accident site. The coastal waters off the East China Sea are China’s most important coastal fishing area, with an annual catch of over 300,000 tons. The vast majority of fishery resources in the East China Sea are concentrated to the southeast of the Yangtze River estuary; a large-scale release of condensate oil would have a severe impact on fisheries in this region. Reports suggest that due to the location of the incident and the cargo carried, any compensation for environmental damage resulting from the Sanji oil tanker accident might fall outside the scope of international regulations. Compensation for marine oil spill incidents is generally governed by the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage (CLC). The convention stipulates the responsibilities of shipowners and insurance companies regarding pollution compensation.