Aerial photo taken aboard surveillance plane of the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) shows the oil spill on the water surface around the sunken Iranian tanker Sanchi in the East China Sea, Jan. 15, 2018. (Xinhua/Liu Shiping)
A pair of Chinese salvage boats are now assisting in the cleanup of an oil spill connected to the sinking of an Iranian oil tanker.
The "Huixun166" and the "Donglei6" are at the location of where the stricken Iranian tanker went down on Sunday.
While their ultimate task will be to salvage the tanker from the ocean, the ships are working right now to contain the oil slick left by the "Sanchi."
While the ship was carrying a form of light crude known as 'condensate,' which isn't expected to be overly harmful at the surface, the fact that much of it went down with the ship is posing new concerns for sea life.
Meanwhile, the exact location of the "Sanchi" has been noted, with the ship 115-meters below the surface.
Underwater robots are going to be used to help salvage the ship, which is also believed to contain the bodies of 29 missing sailors.
The "Sanchi" went down after burning 130 nautical miles east of Shanghai for over a week after it collided with a bulk carrier while enroute to South Korea with its load of condensate.
