Iran’s biggest navy ship ‘Kharg’ catches fire and sinks in Gulf of Oman
- Cause of fire unclear as ship sinks near the Iranian port of Jask
- Vessel has been used by Iranian navy for more than four decades
The largest ship in the Iranian navy caught fire and later sank on Wednesday in the Gulf of Oman under unclear circumstances, semi-official news agencies reported.
The Fars and Tasnim news agencies said efforts failed to save the support ship Kharg, named after the island that serves as the main oil terminal for Iran.
The blaze began about 2.25am and firefighters tried to contain it, Fars said. The vessel sank near the Iranian port of Jask, some 1,270km (790 miles) southeast of Tehran on the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz – the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.
Photos circulated on Iranian social media of sailors wearing life jackets evacuating the vessel as a fire burned behind them. State TV and semi-official news agencies referred to the Kharg as a “training ship”. Fars published video of thick, black smoke rising from the ship early Wednesday morning.
Satellite photos from Planet Labs showed the Kharg off to the west of Jask on Tuesday. Satellites from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that track fires from space detected a blaze at the site of the Jask that started just before the time of the fire reported by Fars.
The Kharg serves as one of a few vessels in the Iranian navy capable of providing replenishment at sea for its other ships. It also can lift heavy cargo and serve as a launch point for helicopters. The ship, built in Britain and launched in 1977, entered the Iranian navy in 1984 after lengthy negotiations that followed Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
