The destruction of an NITC suezmax tanker off China looks set to make 2018 one of the worst years in recent memory for oil pollution.
The 164,000-dwt Sanchi (built 2008) collision with the 76,000-dwt CF Crystal (built 2011) 160 miles off Shanghai on Saturday.
It was not immediately clear how much environmental damage had been caused or the volume of oil spilled into the sea.
The Sanchi casualty is likely to be the largest oil pollution incident in close to 15 years, according to the most recent figures from the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF).
The last major oil tanker disaster was the sinking of the Prestige off Spain in November 2002, which caused one of Europe’s worst environmental catastrophes.
About 63,000 tonnes of fuel oil leaked into the Atlantic, damaging beaches in France, Spain and Portugal and forcing the closure of Spain’s richest fishing grounds.
The only other major pollution incident since then was the 270,000-dwt Hebei Spirit (built 1993), when an estimated 11,000 tonnes of crude was spilt.
The incident could also prove costly for the insurance sector, which has seen maritime losses over the past five years remain at acceptable levels.
The Sanchi, which was built at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries a decade ago, was worth an estimated $28.4m, according to VesselsValue.
In addition to that, the tanker which was enroute from Iran to South Korea, was carrying some 136,000 tonnes of light crude, estimated to be worth in the region of $60m.
The incident also marked the first major maritime incident involving an Iranian tanker since the lifting of international sanctions on Iran in January 2016.
There was a collision involving an NITC-operated tanker in the Singapore Strait in August 2016, but there was no loss of life or pollution.
