Iran navy's largest ship sinks after fire in Gulf of Oman
The Navy said the crew safely evacuated before the Kharg sank near the southern Iranian port city of Jask.
The Iranian navy's biggest ship sank on Wednesday after catching fire in the Gulf of Oman, state news outlets reported.
The Iranian navy said in a statement that one of the Kharg’s systems caught fire off the southern Iranian port city of Jask, according to the semi-official Tasnim News Agency. The ship was en route to international waters for a “training naval operation” when the fire started in the engine room around 11 a.m. local time.
Civilian and military emergency responders spent more than 20 hours trying to extinguish the blaze before the vessel sank, the navy said.
“Despite 20 hours of all-out efforts by Civil and Naval Military Rescue Teams, the rescue operation of the Kharg training support vessel was ineffective due to the spread of fire in different parts,” Iran’s Fars news agency quoted a navy spokesperson as saying.
