Page 41 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - Jan-Feb 2018, Vol 27, No 1

New ‘Bermuda Triangle’ Off China 41

Thirty-one missing, oil

tanker on fire after

collision off China in

world’s ‘new Bermuda

Triangle’

news.com.au

MYSTERY continues to surround exactly what
caused a ship to collide with a tanker carrying
one million barrels of oil in the East China Sea
in a region that has been described as The
Dragon’s Triangle.
The fate of 31 crew members is
unknown after a tanker carrying enormous
amounts of oil collided with a freight ship over
the weekend, sparking a huge fire which Welt last year found the South and East China The search and rescue operations are under
engulfed the vessel and “spewed” cargo into the Seas the worst, likening the area to the notorious way.”
ocean. It has been burning ever since. Bermuda Triangle. At least 33 ships were lost in A big international rescue and recovery
Now, concern over the collision that took 2016 alone, the publication reported. mission is currently being conducted with four
place in an area also described as the “Pacific The intense danger in the region spells Chinese rescue ships and three cleaning ships
Bermuda Triangle” is growing as rescue ships trouble for ships that are growing in size without sent to the site to assess the damage, but the sea
attempt to reach the burning tanker but are any “salvage material worldwide that is suitable is so rough it could be days until the devastating
hampered by toxic clouds from burning oil. for such huge container ships”. fire is controlled.
The size of the oil spill off the coast of “The main cause of accidents resulting in The operation has been helped by coast
Shanghai is unknown but worries of an ship losses were poor maintenance of the ships guard from South Korea sending a vessel and
environmental disaster are growing with fears or the overloading of, for example, passenger aircraft in the international operation. []
the ship is in danger of exploding and would ferries. The increasing number of critical
likely sink, sending 136,000 tonnes of oil into weather conditions with strong storms also
open water. played a role. Lack of security standards and the
The location of the mysterious site, enforcement of rules remained the biggest
sometimes considered a paranormal location, is problems, especially in Asia.”
directly underneath an area of sub-sea The fate of the crew is unknown but
volcanoes. Some have called it a “vile vortex”; Chinese authorities say crew have been lost. It is
an area where the “pull of the planet’s unclear how many, but all missing were from
electromagnetic waves is stronger than The Sanchi tanker, which is still floating but has
anywhere else”. potential to sink.
The cause of the crash between Hong “Trying to find out whether they’re still
Kong’s bulk freight ship the CF Crystal and The alive and rescuing them has to be first priority RANDOM THIRTEENS
Sanchi in the East China Sea is unknown. above all else,” Dr Boxall said.
US navy aircraft scanned 3600 nautical miles “After that, then we start looking at the impact
surrounding the crash site, looking for the of what is potentially one of the top 10 spills The number 13 is considered lucky in China
missing mariners, but none were located. worldwide ever.” because its symbol resembles one that means
The body of one missing crew member The equivalent of one million barrels of “must be alive.”
from The Sanchi has been found but more than condensate, a type of ultralight oil, worth $60
30 others remain missing. The CF Crystal million, were aboard at the time of the accident. In 1941, Joe DiMaggio struck out only 13
suffered limited damage and its 21 crew Authorities have confirmed there is an amount times.
members were rescued. of oil in the sea but it is unknown how much has
The Sanchi was heading north, sailing been contaminated. Thousands of tons are at risk Napoleon Bonaparte, Herbert Hoover and
from Iran to a port in South Korea, while the CF of pouring into the ocean. Franklin Delano Roosevelt all feared the
Crystal, carrying grain from the US, was “A big concern is the blaze and the oil number 13.
heading south. The collision occurred at about aboard the ship,” Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride
8pm on January 6, 300km east of China’s coast, said. Apollo 13 was launched at 13:13, military
off Shanghai. “There have been reports of oil in the time. The astronauts aborted the mission and
A major rescue effort is under way but water. The East China Sea is shared by China, turned back to Earth on Friday, April 13.
thick clouds of smoke billowing out of South Korea and also some of the southern
Panamanian ship The Sanchi and bad weather islands of Japan. There will be a lot of concern Black Sabbath released its self-titled first
including strong seas and winds are hampering in all of those countries about any developing album in February 1970...on Friday the 13th.
efforts to assess the damage and search for the slick and which direction it may be heading,” he
missing crew. added. Cost to U.S. economy when superstitious
“In this day and age with anticollision A statement from Ministry of Transport people stay home on Friday the 13th: $800
systems, radar, with ship identification systems, of the People’s Republic of China said “the million.
two enormous ships like this should not collide,” accident caused the vessel Sanchi to (catch) fire
oceanography expert Dr Simon Boxall, of the on the whole vessel and the vessel was tilted to Although DVDs are the same size as CDs, a
University of Southampton, told ABC Radio. the right and the crew was lost. The bulk carrier DVD can store 13 times as much data.
“Particularly seeing as they weren’t in a CF Crystal was damaged without jeopardising
narrow channel, there wasn’t restricted the safety of the vessel, and 21 crew members The majority of high-rise apartments and
navigation, there was no excuse for this accident were rescued safely. office building do not have a 13th floor.
to occur.” “The Sanchi tanker is in a floating state
Research on the most dangerous seas in and is still burning with oil on the sea surface. www.rel-mar.com/didyouknow
the world carried out by German newspaper Die