An Iranian frigate was seen capsizing at port while next to merchant ships, in another black mark for the country's record of naval mishaps
Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images
- An Iranian frigate capsized while undergoing repairs at Bandar Abbas, a coastal city in the Strait of Hormuz.
- State media reported that it took on water and lost balance due to a "technical failure."
- Photos show the ship turned on its side amid merchant ships also docked at Bandar Abbas.
Several people were admitted to hospital after an Iranian warship capsized at the port city of Bandar Abbas on Sunday, Iran's state media reported.
The Sahand, a domestically produced Moudge-class frigate, was undergoing repairs when it lost balance and partially sank, per the Mehr News Agency.
The mishap was due to a "technical failure," Mehr reported.
A separate report several hours later by the Islamic Republic News Agency cited the country's military saying water had leaked into the Sahand's tanks, causing the vessel to turn over.
The military added in IRNA's report that the ship had since "returned to balance." Both news agencies are owned by the Iranian government, which described the vessel as a "destroyer."
Photos released by the agencies show the Sahand floating on its side next to several docked merchant ships. Other images on social media appear to show the vessel tipping over.
The lasting damage sustained by the vessel is not immediately clear.
The Sahand was launched in 2018 and is named after another Iranian ship that was destroyed by the US in 1988's Operation Praying Mantis.
The original vessel was one of two Iranian naval ships sunk by the US Navy in retaliation for the mining of the guided missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts.
Iranian media reports said the new Sahand is equipped with torpedoes, anti-air munitions, cruise missiles, a point-defense system, and close-range weapons that can fire up to 7,000 rounds per minute.
Its capsizing on Sunday is the latest in a string of mishaps for Iran's navy in recent years, including a 2020 friendly fire incident involving a ship of a similar class.
The Iranian frigate Jamaran was testing an anti-ship missile when it struck the support vessel Konarak in the Gulf of Oman, killing 19 sailors and injuring another 15.
In late 2021, another Moudge-class frigate, the Talayieh, was videoed capsizing at a flooded dry dock in Bandar Abbas.
In June of that year, the Kharg, one of Iran's largest naval vessels, caught fire and sank in the Gulf of Oman after firefighters tried for 20 hours to save the ship. It had embarked on a training mission at the time, local media reported.
Another Moudge-class frigate, the Damavand, ran aground in 2018 and was damaged beyond repair. It had been launched just three years prior.
In a Sunday report covering the Sahand's capsizing, Iranian state media channel Al-Alalam noted that the US also suffered a capsizing in 2022 involving a ship called USS The Sullivans.
But USS The Sullivans is a museum ship that saw service in World War II and the Korean War, and was retired in 1965.
It nearly sank in April 2022 due to a hull breach, but it was repaired and reopened for visits in August 2022.