Clouds of dark smoke could be seen billowing out of the Sanchi tanker engulfing the vessel as rescue efforts were hampered by bad weather. 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. Major maritime incidentThe incident also marked the first major maritime incident involving an Iranian tanker since the lifting of international sanctions on Iran in January 2016. Reuters ship tracking data shows Sanchi was built in 2008 and was managed by the National Iranian Tanker Co (NITC). The Sanchi tanker, leased by Hanwha Total Petrochemical Co Ltd, had “valid foreign insurance”, Iranian oil ministry spokesman Kasra Nouri told Iran’s state television.

Source: Mint January 07, 2018 08:48 UTC