(Yicai Global) Jan. 13 -- Rescue workers have boarded the ill-fated oil tanker MV Sanchi for the first time following its collision with another ship about a week ago.

Four men from the Shanghai Salvage Bureau managed to enter the burning ship and recovered the remains of two deceased seamen and the ship's blackbox, the Shanghai Maritime Safety Adminstrition said in a statement today.

Temperatures as high as 89 degrees centigrade prevented the rescuers from entering the vessel's living chambers, the statement said.

The Panama-registered tanker collided with the Hong Kong cargo ship CF Crystal off China's coast, 160 sea miles east of the Yangtze Estuary, on January 6.

With gas condensate on board, the oil tanker caught fire after the collision and it has been burning since. 

The 274-meter-long boat, which belongs to Bright Shipping Ltd., was heading from Iran to South Korea, carrying 136,000 tons of gas condensate.

Most of its 32 crew members -- 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis -- were missing after the collision. One was found dead at sea near the ship on January 8.

Some 21 Crystal crew members were rescued after the accident.