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The World Has Never Seen an Oil Spill Like This
A tanker that sank off the Chinese coast was carrying condensate, a mix of molecules with radically different properties than crude.
An oil tanker engulfed in flame
The Sanchi engulfed in flame on January 13 China Daily via Reuters
Alexis C. Madrigal 4:30 AM ET Technology
Over the last two weeks, the maritime world has watched with horror as a tragedy has unfolded in the East China Sea. A massive Iranian tanker, the Sanchi, collided with a Chinese freighter carrying grain. Damaged and adrift, the tanker caught on fire, burned for more than a week, and sank. All 32 crew members are presumed dead.
Meanwhile, Chinese authorities and environmental groups have been trying to understand the environmental threat posed by the million barrels of hydrocarbons that the tanker was carrying. Because the Sanchi was not carrying crude oil, but rather condensate, a liquid by-product of natural gas and some kinds of oil production. According to Alex Hunt, a technical manager at the London-based International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation, which assists with oil spills across the world, there has never been a condensate spill like this.
Its typical for us to attend approximately 20 shipping incidents a year and weve been doing this for 50 years, Hunt says. There have been other condensate spills, but this is the first condensate spill of this magnitude that weve dealt with, which gives you an impression of how rare cases like this are. A 2016 Canadian environmental risk report on condensates also noted the small size and low frequency of spills to marine water.
more...
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/01/the-oil-spill-that-wasnt/550820/
Wwcd
(6,288 posts)😨
malaise
(269,302 posts)So little coverage int he West
Nitram
(22,967 posts)Maybe you need to find new sources of "news."
malaise
(269,302 posts)If anything of this scale happened in a Western country it would be all over TV
babylonsister
(171,111 posts)lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)Oh, wait...
malaise
(269,302 posts)n/t
Nitram
(22,967 posts)Ferrets are Cool
(21,116 posts)BobTheSubgenius
(11,580 posts)I'll have to leave the reading to a more caffeine-saturated moment, though..
spanone
(135,935 posts)raven mad
(4,940 posts)I despise oil cartels.
mitch96
(13,944 posts)What was the effect back then?? I've never heard or read about these effects..
It might give us an idea of what to expect??
m
Hekate
(91,013 posts)Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)TV coverage pathetic to date. The Big 3 seem to be devoting half their national broadcasts to natural disasters and fluff.
Human disasters not so much.
Do not get me started on Yemen and the silence.
Moostache
(9,897 posts)They DO NOT CARE...about the environment, the seas, the food chain, nothing but profits above ALL.
If the oil company executives were responsible FINANCIALLY and faced utter ruin if their tankers destroyed environments, there would NEVER be another spill....ok, done with hyperbolic rage rant....but seriously, fuck these oil company vampires already!