‘Iran holds talks with crew of Chinese freighter collides with Sanchi’

TEHRAN, January 28 - Spokesman of National Iranian Tanker Company Mohsen Bahrami said Iranian Ports and Navigation Organization has held talks with crew of Chinese freighter CF Crystal which has had an accident with Iran’s Sanchi tanker.

TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Iran has already called for the talks, he said, “I do not think that the result would come out soon, because all of these phases are part of efforts to straighten out the issue.”

As to an underwater robot China was expected to send to take photos of the Iranian tanker, he said the robot has been unable to operate over past 2-3 days because of bad weather.

The Iranian oil tanker that collided with freighter CF Crystal went down after more than a week of burning in the East China Sea.

The Iranian ship, Sanchi — which was carrying 136,000 tons (almost one million barrels) of condensate for South Korea — had been in flames for eight days, since it collided with the cargo ship off the coast of China on January 6. The vessel went down on Sunday after a new and massive fire erupted, sending a cloud of black smoke as high as one kilometer above the sea.

The tanker had a crew of 32, almost all of them Iranians. Three bodies have been recovered, and the remaining 29 crew members are presumed dead.