Shanghai, China – Fourteen seafarers are feared dead following a collision at sea between an oil tanker and a sand barge off the Yangtze River mouth this morning.
The tanker, Long Qing 1, was loaded with 3000 litres of gasoline when it rammed into the Shan Da 11, the barge which took in water and started sinking.
As the Shan Da went under, the Long Qing caught fire, resulting in a blaze that engulfed the entire tanker.
Video footage sent through early this morning shows the tanker on fire from bow to stern with no part of the Long Qing visible.
Of the 17 crew on board the two vessels only three mariners had been rescued, the Shanghai Maritime Rescue Center said.
