Japan and South Korea on alert for Sanchi oil spill

As the oil spill caused by the sinking of NITC tanker Sanchi in the East China Sea continues to spread, there is a strong possibility that the oil spill could endanger the environment of China’s neighbouring countries, South Korea and Japan.

According to a report by Britain’s National Oceanography Centre, concerns are growing about the potential impact to key fishing grounds and sensitive marine ecosystems off Japan and South Korea, which lie in the projected path of the oil.

“An updated emergency ocean model simulation shows that waters polluted by the sinking Sanchi oil tanker could reach Japan within a month. The revised simulations suggest that pollution from the spill may be distributed much further and faster than previously thought, and that larger areas of the coast may be impacted,” the center said in the report.

Last week, China’s State Oceanic Administration spotted more oil slicks around the ship wreckage site and the oil cleanup operations are still ongoing.

The administration said over the weekend that water samples taken from the East China Sea near the ship wreckage site met first-level standards of China.