MNA – CEO of the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) Nasrollah Sardashti said that the Sanchi case would be investigated in the court within the next five months.

He made the remark on the sidelines of the 1st commemoration ceremony of Sanchi martyrs, held in Hosseiniyah Ershad on Thursday Jan. 10.

The case of accident between Iranian and Chinese ships (Sanchi mishap) will be examined in the next five months and its trial is being held in Hong Kong or China, he reiterated.

Sardashti went on to say that British insurers on contract with the National Iranian Tanker Company are negotiating directly with China, Korea and Japan with regard to the claim raised about water pollution.

He stipulated that the trial, scheduled to be held in China or Hong Kong, would determine the extent of blame for Sanchi incident, which does not have much to do with the NITC.

The Sanchi oil tanker collision occurred on January 6, 2018 when the Panamanian-flagged, Iranian-owned tanker Sanchi, with a full natural-gas condensate cargo of 136,000 tons (960,000 barrels), sailing from Iran to South Korea, collided with the Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship CF Crystal 160 nautical miles (300 km) off Shanghai, China. Sanchi caught fire shortly after the collision; after burning and drifting for over a week, it sank on January 14.

In the wake of this incident, 32 crews of the tanker were killed.