BEIJING: Chinese officials said Thursday they are still debating whether to try to raise an Iranian oil tanker that sank last month with the loss of all 32 crew members.
Transport ministry officials told reporters that 1,900 tons of the Sanchi's fuel oil and some of the tanker's natural gas condensate cargo remain trapped underwater, complicating plans to salvage the ship.
"We need to consider whether the oil will ignite and explode, or cause other issues," said Zhi Guanglu, deputy head of the China Maritime Search and Rescue Center.
Zhi said China was in communication with Iran, the ship's owners and its country of registration, Panama, "in accordance with international conventions."
China is racing to find ways to extract the underwater oil, which could cause serious environmental damage. The Sanchi sank near important fishing grounds, though officials said seafood from the East China Sea remains safe.
Officials say leaked oil has already contaminated seawater around the site of the wreck. Chinese cleanup crews have been using dispersants and absorbents to clean up oil slicks.
The Sanchi caught fire after colliding with a freighter on Jan. 6 and exploded and sank on Sunday about 530 kilometers (330 miles) southeast of Shanghai.
China has sent a robot submarine to survey the 85,000-ton wreck, which lies under 115 meters (380 feet) of water in the East China Sea.
Three bodies were recovered from the sea and the tanker before it sank. Officials say no other bodies have been found from the crew of 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis.
The ship's navigation recorder was recovered and the cause of the collision is under investigation.
China debating whether to raise sunken Iranian oil tanker
China debating whether to raise sunken Iranian oil tanker
UK child killer Ian Huntley dies after prison attack: police
- Huntley murdered 10-year-old girls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in eastern England in 2002
- He suffered serious injuries when he was assaulted at Frankland maximum security prison in the northeastern English city of Durham on Feb. 26
LONDON: One of Britain’s most notorious child killers, Ian Huntley, died on Saturday following an attack in prison where he was serving a life sentence, police said.
Huntley murdered 10-year-old girls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in eastern England in 2002, in a case that horrified the country.
Fifty-two-year-old Huntley suffered serious injuries when he was assaulted at Frankland maximum security prison in the northeastern English city of Durham on Feb. 26.
He “died in hospital this morning,” a spokesperson for the local police force said in a statement emailed to AFP.
A spokesperson for the government’s justice ministry said the double murder of Holly and Jessica “remains one of the most shocking and devastating cases in our nation’s history, and our thoughts are with their families.”
Huntley killed the two best friends after they left a family barbecue to buy sweets in the village of Soham, Cambridgeshire, on Aug. 4 2002.
Their disappearance sparked a massive search involving hundreds of police officers and appeals for help.
A photograph of the two girls wearing matching Manchester United football tops became instantly recognizable to many Britons.
Their bodies were found almost two weeks later, dumped in a ditch several miles away.
Huntley, then a 28-year-old school caretaker, aroused the suspicion of police after he gave media interviews claiming to be concerned for the girls’ welfare.
He denied murdering them but was convicted at trial in 2003.
His girlfriend at the time, Maxine Carr a teaching assistant at the girls’ school, gave Huntley a false alibi and was jailed for perverting the course of justice. She now lives under a new identity.
Revelations that Huntley had been the subject of prior rape and sexual assault complaints led to the establishment of criminal checks for anyone working with children.
He had been attacked before in prison, most seriously in 2005 and 2010.
“A police investigation into the circumstances of the incident is ongoing,” the spokesperson said, adding that prosecutors would consider bringing charges against his assailant.
