An Iranian cargo ship sank off Azerbaijan’s eastern coast in the Caspian Sea on Friday according to reports.
Azerbaijan rescue services rescued the crew of the Iranian-flagged dry cargo ship as it was sinking near the Azeri port city of Lankaran, Azerbaijan’s state maritime agency reported.
Press TV reports: The agency said in a press release that it started to receive distress signals from the cargo vessel Shabahang at around 14:10 local time (10:10 GMT).
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“Two aircraft of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and a patrol vessel of the State Border Service have been sent to the site of the accident,” said the statement.
Traffic records showed Shabahang, a 600-ton merchant vessel built in 1993, has been carrying cargo between the Iranian port of Anzali and Russia’s Astrakhan in recent times.
A maritime official based in the northern Iranian province of Gilan said the ship was carrying around 950 tons of tiles and ceramic products when it submerged.
Ali Khedmatgozar told the IRIB News that the ship was privately owned and staffed by seven Iranian and two Indian sailors when it began drowning. He added that all members of the crew had been rescued by the Azerbaijani authorities.
The official would not definitively say what had caused the incident but hinted that the ship had been fighting waves of up to three meters before sinking.
The world’s largest inland body of water, the Caspian Sea is surrounded by Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
Niamh Harris
They let fucking muzzrats and indians drive the ship. No wonder it sank. The only things worse at driving anything are niggers and women.