NITC officials say that boarding the burning 164,000-dwt Sanchi (built 2008) and searching for potential survivors in the ship’s anti-piracy citadel is now their main priority.
They claim that there is a chance that the crew may have survived the devastating fire that has been raging on the ship since Saturday evening.
The citadel is located in the ship’s engine room, which the company says is not directly affected by the fire and is about 14 meters under water. "There is still hope," Captain Mohsen Bahrami, an NITC spokesman has told Iranian media.
NITC says an attempt will be made to board the ship to search for missing crew members as soon as the fire is brought under control.
Yesterday the Sanchi suffered an explosion that forced rescue tugs pumping foam onto the ship to retreat to a safe distance. However, TradeWinds understands that they have resumed their firefighting efforts and weather conditions have improved.
The suezmax tanker had a crew of 30 Iranian and two Bangladeshi nationals on board when it collided with the 76,000-dwt bulker CF Crystal (built 2011) in the East China Sea on Saturday night while it was en route from Iran to South Korea with a cargo on condensate.
The body of one Iranian crew member was found in the ocean on Monday.
