WorldTOKYO/BEIJING (Reuters) - The burning Iranian oil tanker that sank in the East China Sea on Sunday in the worst oil ship disaster in decades has produced a 10-mile long oil slick as black smoke continued to billow from the site, Chinese media and Japanese authorities said on Monday. For a map of oil tanker collision, click tmsnrt.rs/2CBgqaiA clean-up effort on the sea’s surface has begun and rescue teams have called a halt to the large-scale search for survivors, reducing it to “normal” operations, CCTV said. The sinking marks the biggest tanker spill since 1991, when 260,000 tonnes of oil leaked off the Angolan coast. SINKING VS BURNINGExperts worry the ship’s sinking is potentially more damaging to the marine ecosystem than letting the condensate oil burn off. The East China Sea is known for its rich, although already polluted, marine ecosystem, with whales, porpoises, seabirds and fish, he said.

Source: Sunday Times January 15, 2018 06:33 UTC