- An Iranian frigate capsized while undergoing repairs in the Strait of Hormuz coastal city of Bandar Abbas.
- State media said a “technical malfunction” had caused the ship to take on water and lose balance.
- Photos show a boat capsizing among commercial ships anchored in Bandar Abbas.
Iranian state media reported that an Iranian warship capsized in the port city of Bandar Abbas on Sunday, sending several people to hospital.
The domestically built Madji-class frigate Sahand was undergoing repairs when it lost balance and partially sank, according to the Mehr News Agency.
The accident was due to a “technical failure,” Mair reported.
Hours later, in a separate report by the Islamic Republic News Agency, the military said water had leaked into the Sahand’s tanks, causing the vessel to capsize.
The Iranian military added in IRNA’s report that the ship had since “restored stability.” Both news agencies are owned by the Iranian government, which described the vessel as a “destroyer.”
Photos released by media outlets showed the Sahand floating on its side next to several anchored merchant ships, while other images posted on social media showed the vessel capsizing.
It was not immediately clear how much permanent damage the ship sustained.
The Sahand was launched in 2018 and named after another Iranian ship destroyed by the US in Operation Praying Mantis in 1988.
The original ship was one of two Iranian naval vessels sunk by the U.S. Navy in retaliation for the laying of mines on the guided missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts.
Iranian media reports said the new Sahand is equipped with torpedoes, anti-aircraft weapons, cruise missiles, a point defense system and short-range weapons capable of firing up to 7,000 rounds per minute.
Sunday’s capsizing is the latest in a series of accidents for the Iranian navy in recent years, including a friendly fire incident involving a vessel of the same class in 2020.
The Iranian frigate Jamaran collided with the support ship Konarak in the Gulf of Oman while testing an anti-ship missile, killing 19 crew members and injuring 15.
Another Mudge-class frigate, the Talaie, will be launched in late 2021. Video of the capsize In a flooded dry dock at Bandar Abbas.
In June that year, one of Iran’s largest naval vessels, the Kharg, caught fire and sank in the Gulf of Oman after firefighters struggled for 20 hours to save it. Local media reported that the vessel was on a training mission at the time.
Another Mudge-class frigate, the Damavand, ran aground and was damaged beyond repair in 2018, having been launched only three years earlier.
Iranian state media outlet Al-Aram, in its report on the Sahand capsizing on Sunday, noted that a similar incident also occurred in the United States, with the USS The Sullivans capsizing in 2022.
However, the USS The Sullivans is a museum ship that served in World War II and the Korean War and was decommissioned in 1965.
In April 2022, the ship nearly sank due to hull damage, but was repaired and will be open to visitors again in August 2022.
