Iranian Vessel Sank for Human Error of Chinese Freighter Crew
“In our view, human errors of the Crystal officers and redirecting it to a wrong path 15 minutes before the incident led to the collision,” Deputy Director General for Seafarer’s Affairs and International Specialize Agencies of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) Nader Pasandideh told reporters on Saturday.
“If that mistake (by the Crystal crew) had not been made, the collision would not have happened,” he added.
“The Chinese freighter crews and officers had not noticed the Iranian oil tanker Sanchi until the collision,” Pasandideh underlined.
The above mentioned cause is confirmed by Iran, Panama and Bangladesh, he added.
The Panama-registered Iranian tanker, named Sanchi, that was carrying 16,000 tons of gas condensate, collided with a Hong Kong-registered freighter in East China Sea on January 7.
One dead body was pulled out from water near the tanker when it was still burning and two others plus the black box were recovered by the rescue team from the tanker.
The tanker sank a week after the incident, despite all efforts made to save the lives of crew. Now it is presumed that all other 30 crew members are dead. Two Bangladeshis were on board the vessel.
