All 32 crew were reported missing from a burning NITC tanker that was leaking oil following a collision with a Cosco bulker off China on Sunday.
NITC's 164,000-dwt Sanchi (built 2008) clashed with the 76,000-dwt CF Crystal (built 2011) in the East China Sea, 160 miles off Shanghai, the Chinese government said.
The tanker was heading from Iran to South Korea with 136,000 tonnes of light crude, Reuters reported.
The cargo is worth about $60m. The crew consists of 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis.
“Sanchi is floating and burning as of now,” the government said. “There is an oil slick and we are pushing forward with rescue efforts.”
Seven rescue and clean-up boats were sent to the site.
South Korea has also sent a ship and a helicopter to help.
Chartered by Hanwha Total Petrochemical, the NITC vessel has “valid foreign insurance”, Iranian oil ministry spokesman Kasra Nouri told Iran’s state television.
CF Crystal, operated by CoscoCS subisidiary Shanghai CP International, has a cargo of 64,000 tonnes of grain, which was being carried from the US to China.
All 21 crew have been rescued.
Damage to the bulker was "non-critical", according to China’s transport ministry.
