Iran's biggest navy ship sinks after fire in Gulf of Oman - media | World Defense

Iran's biggest navy ship sinks after fire in Gulf of Oman - media

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Iran's biggest navy ship sinks after fire in Gulf of Oman - media

June 2, 2021

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Iranian Kharg warship is pictured at a dock in the Syrian coastal city Latakia February 25, 2011. Picture taken on February 25, 2011. REUTERS/Davoud Poorsehat/IRNA/File Photo

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The Iranian Navy helicopter carrier Kharg is docked at Port Sudan at the Red Sea State, October 31, 2012. REUTERS/ Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo


Iran's largest navy ship the Kharg sank on Wednesday after catching fire in the Gulf of Oman, but the crew were safely rescued, Iranian media reported.

No further explanation was given for the latest incident in a region of sensitive waterways, where there have been accusations of attacks on ships owned by arch-enemies Iran and Israel.

State TV said the fire on Iran's highest-tonnage naval vessel started around 2:25 a.m.on Wednesday (21:55 GMT) near the Iranian port of Jask, where it was on a training mission.

The Gulf of Oman connects to the Strait of Hormuz where about a fifth of the world's oil passes.


Rescue operations for the Kharg went on for hours, the statement on state TV said, with all the crew disembarking.

"All efforts to save the vessel were unsuccessful and it sank," the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

In April, Iran said one of its vessels, the Saviz, had been targeted in the Red Sea, after media reports the ship had been attacked with limpet mines. read more

That came after Israel and Iran had blamed each other for a series of reported attacks on cargo ships since late February.


Iran has refused to recognise Israel since its Islamic Revolution in 1979 that toppled the U.S.-backed Shah. Israel sees Iran's nuclear programme as a threat to its existence.

The shipping incidents have occurred since U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January, pledging to rejoin Iran's 2015 nuclear containment deal with six world powers - abandoned by his predecessor Donald Trump in a move welcomed by Israel - if Tehran returns to full compliance with the accord.
 

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Khafee

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Iran's largest warship catches fire, sinks in Gulf of Oman

June 2, 2021
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This photo made available by Asriran.com on Wednesday, June 2, 2021 shows personnel standing on Iran’s navy support ship Kharg after being caught on fire in the Gulf of Oman. Kharg, the largest ship in the Iranian navy caught fire and later sank Wednesday in the Gulf of Oman under unclear circumstances, semiofficial news agencies reported. (Asriran.com via AP) (Uncredited/ASRIRAN.COM)
By Amir Vahdat and Jon Gambrell | AP



TEHRAN, Iran — The largest warship in the Iranian navy caught fire and later sank Wednesday in the Gulf of Oman under unclear circumstances, semiofficial news agencies reported.

The Fars and Tasnim news agencies said efforts failed to save the support warship Kharg, named after the island that serves as the main oil terminal for Iran.

The blaze began around 2:25 a.m. and firefighters tried to contain it, Fars said. The vessel sank near the Iranian port of Jask, some 1,270 kilometers (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 semiofficial 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 Inc. analyzed by The Associated Press showed the Kharg off to the west of Jask on Tuesday. Satellites from the U.S. 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 warship, built in Britain and launched in 1977, entered the Iranian navy in 1984 after lengthy negotiations that followed Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran’s navy typically handles patrols in the Gulf of Oman and the wider seas, while the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard operates in the shallower waters of the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf. In recent months, however, the navy launched a slightly larger commercial tanker called the Makran it converted into serving a similar function as the Kharg.

Iranian officials offered no cause for the fire aboard the Kharg. However, it comes after a series of mysterious explosions that began in 2019 targeting ships in the Gulf of Oman. The U.S. Navy later accused Iran of targeting the ships with limpet mines, timed explosives typically attached by divers to a vessel’s hull.

Iran denied targeting the vessels, though U.S. Navy footage showed Revolutionary Guard members removing one unexploded limpet mine from a vessel. The incidents came amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.

In April, an Iranian ship called the MV Saviz believed to be a Guard base and anchored for years in the Red Sea off Yemen was targeted in an attack suspected to have been carried out by Israel. It escalated a yearslong shadow war in Mideast waters between the two countries.

The sinking of the Kharg marks the latest naval disaster for Iran. In 2020 during an Iranian military training exercise, a missile mistakenly struck a naval vessel near the port of Jask, killing 19 sailors and wounding 15. Also in 2018, an Iranian navy destroyer sank in the Caspian Sea.
 

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Iran warship catches fire and sinks in Gulf of Oman, say local agencies​

The Kharg, the largest vessel in the Iranian navy, is lost in unclear circumstances, according to reports

The Iranian navy’s largest warship caught fire and sank in unclear circumstances in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday, semi-official news agencies have reported.

The Fars and Tasnim agencies said efforts failed to save the support ship Kharg, named after the island that serves as Iran’s main oil terminal.



The blaze began at about 2:25 am and firefighters tried to contain it, Fars said. The vessel sank off the Iranian port of Jasknear the strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Gulf.

Photos circulated on Iranian social media of sailors in lifejackets 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 on Wednesday morning.

Satellite photos from Planet Labs Inc analysed by the Associated Press showed the Kharg to the west of Jask on Tuesday. Satellites from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that track fires from space also detected a blaze at the site.
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An image made available by the Iranian state TV (IRIB) website appears to show smoke rising from the Kharg.Photograph: Iran State Tv Irib Handout/EPA

The Kharg is one of a few vessels in the Iranian navy capable of replenishing other ships at sea. It can also lift heavy cargo and serve as a launch point for helicopters. The vessel, built in Britain and launched in 1977, entered the Iranian navy in 1984 after lengthy negotiations that followed Iran‘s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran’s navy typically handles patrols in the Gulf of Oman and the wider seas, while the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guards operate in the shallower waters of the strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf. In recent months, however, the navy launched a slightly larger commercial tanker called the Makran it had converted to serve a similar function to the Kharg.

Iranian officials offered no cause for the fire, but it follows a series of mysterious explosions targeting ships in the Gulf of Oman that began in 2019. The US later accused Iran of targeting the ships with limpet mines.

Iran denied targeting the vessels, though US footage showed Revolutionary Guards members removing one unexploded limpet mine from a vessel. The incidents came at a time of heightened tensions between the Washington and Tehran after Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers.

The MV Saviz, an Iranian ship believed to be a Revolutionary Guard base and anchored for years in the Red Sea off Yemen was targeted in an attack in April suspected to have been the work of Israel. It escalated a years-long shadow war in Middle-East waters between the two countries.

The sinking of the Kharg marks the latest naval disaster for Iran. In 2020, during an military training exercise, a missile mistakenly struck a naval vessel near the port of Jask, killing 19 sailors and wounding 15. In 2018, an Iranian navy destroyer sank in the Caspian Sea.
 

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Gripen9

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What happened here? Sabotage?
Or was it unloading ammo for the hothis and went boooom
 

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not only did this ship sink, a major oil refinery fire happened hours later right outside Tehran, so we will have to wait and see how this goes.
 
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