an ongoing search and rescue operation saved 29 crewmembers from a UAE-registered Ro/Ro cargo ship that sunk earlier today in heavy weather.
Weather forecasters in the area had issued warnings for a
powerful storm that was expected to bring high seas and wind gusts to the
region. Rescuers are reporting that the winds were above 40 mph when the vessel
rolled to its starboard side and began sinking. It went down approximately 30
miles off Iran’s Assaluyeh port.
Captain Nizar Qaddoura, operations manager of the Salem Al
Makrani Cargo Company reported that 11 of the crewmembers were able to make it
into rafts while two Iranian patrol boats rescued 16 others in lifejackets. One
member of the crew was believed to have been rescued by a nearby tanker.
Initially, they indicated that two were still missing but the latest Iranian
news agency reports are saying 29 were rescued. The captain told the news
agencies that the crew consisted of individuals from Sudan, India, Uganda,
Tanzania, and Ethiopia.
In addition to the two Iranian patrol boats, officials said
that they had requested a helicopter to join in the search. A port official
however told reporters that they would be searching for the body of the missing
member of the crew.
The vessel which was built in 1983 had left Dubai carrying
cars and other cargo bound for the southern Iraqi port of Umm Qasr.