Watch: Oil Tanker Spill Off China May Have Lasting Environmental Impacts
Jan. 24, 2018 - On January 6, 2018 an oil tanker collided with a cargo ship in the East China Sea. The oil tanker carried more than one million barrels of hydrocarbon condensate. Unlike most oil spills, condensate doesn’t linger on the surface or sink to the bottom. Condensate burns off, evaporates, or dissolves into the water within weeks or months. This makes it more difficult to monitor the ecological consequences of the spill. The dissolved condensate could pose a deadly and prolonged threat to marine life in the area. The fire that destroyed the vessel and the condensate leaking into the water have also killed off the phytoplankton, birds, and other marine life in the vicinity.
Transcript
On January 6, 2018 an oil tanker collided with a cargo ship in the East China Sea.
The oil tanker carried more than one million barrels of hydrocarbon condensate.
Unlike most oil spills, condensate doesn’t linger on the surface or sink to the bottom.
Condensate burns off, evaporates, or dissolves into the water within weeks or months.
This makes it more difficult to monitor the ecological consequences of the spill.
The dissolved condensate could pose a deadly and prolonged threat to marine life in the area.
The fire that destroyed the vessel and the condensate leaking into the water have also killed off the phytoplankton, birds, and other marine life in the vicinity.
