An oil spill off China’s coast is the world’s biggest since Deepwater Horizon

A 900-foot Iranian oil tanker called the Sanchiwas carrying over 122,000 tons of condensate – a refined form of ultra-light crude oil – when it collided with a Chinese cargo ship earlier this month. The crash caused the tanker to explode into flames, killing all 32 crew members aboard the ship and dumping millions of gallons of oil into the East China Sea. The tanker slipped beneath the waves on Sunday, eight days after the collision.

China’s State Oceanic Administration said in a statement that the oil spill more than tripled in size over the weekend. There are currently more than three oil slicks with a surface area of approximately 332 square kilometers, or 128 miles. That’s up from 101 square kilometers (38 square miles) on Wednesday. It’s still not clear how large the spill will become, as much of the oil may have burned up in the initial collision.

Continue reading:  An oil spill off China’s coast is the world’s biggest since Deepwater Horizon — and it more than tripled in size over the weekend