At least crude oil is visible. Not so the toxic liquid leaking from a capsized oil tanker in the East China Sea. This invisible substance is a lethal threat to marine life.
On 6 January, the oil tanker Sanchi collided with the CF Crystal, a Chinese freighter whose crew were all rescued. and rocked by , the Sanchi finally with the loss of its 32-strong crew.
The Sanchi was carrying 136,000 tonnes of oil condensate, a fuel much more volatile and flammable than crude oil. The is the biggest since the Deepwater Horizon oil platform disaster in 2010.
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Much has already burned off, but the rest of the transparent fluid could leak out and float upwards, forming an invisible toxic plume just below the sea surface.
Dangerous cargo
“It’s a pretty good assumption that all the fuel and cargo either has been released to the environment, or will be shortly,” says , a marine conservation scientist in Anchorage, Alaska. “If it is all released, it will be the largest spill of condensate in history.”
“Condensate is acutely toxic to all marine organisms, from zooplankton and fish larvae to adult fish and whales,” says Steiner. “Organisms exposed to the underwater toxic plume will absorb it through their membranes, skin and gill filaments. It can cause lethal injury quickly, or sub-lethal impairments such as reproductive failure.”
The species at risk include minke and fin whales. “It’s a very rich ecosystem and substantial fishery,” says Steiner.
Steiner has called on the UN and the three countries whose waters are affected – Japan, China and South Korea – to team up and track the plume. “The condensates are likely to persist for a few months, so it’s important to know where the plume is headed,” he says. And although the spill is around 240 kilometres offshore, it could persist long enough to pollute shorelines.
