Explosion Hinders Efforts To Save Tanker Burning Off Coast Of China

BEIJING — An explosion rocked a stricken oil tanker off the coast of Shanghai on Wednesday, forcing maritime authorities to suspend firefighting and rescue efforts, Chinese officials said. China’s ministry of transport said rescue vessels withdrew to a safe distance after the explosion on the Sanchi’s bow, the latest setback in the multinational effort to extinguish the burning wreck and find more than 30 missing crewmembers. The ship is still on fire, the ministry said. Chinese officials have previously warned that the tanker could explode and sink, possibly triggering an environmental disaster. The Sanchi was carrying nearly 1 million barrels of condensate, a type of gassy, ultra-light oil, when it collided Saturday evening with a freighter 160 miles off the coast and caught fire.