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Iran’s Sahand entirely sinks despite rebalancing efforts
“The Sahand warship, which was rebalanced on the water with great difficulty on Monday, has now sunk after the rope holding the ship snapped,” said Nour News, which is affiliated with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
“Several people sustained minor injuries in the incident and were taken to hospital,” IRNA said, citing the Iranian Army.
On Sunday, state media said the ship had capsized during repairs at a wharf due to water ingress and that efforts were being made to rebalance it.
Named after a northern Iranian mountain, the Iranian-built stealth warship, Sahand took six years to be built and was launched into the Persian Gulf in December 2018. It is equipped with a flight deck for helicopters, torpedo launchers, anti-aircraft and anti-ship guns, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles and electronic warfare capabilities, according to local media.
The frigate has already seen deployment outside of Iran’s territorial waters. Last year, it was dispatched to combat piracy in the Gulf of Aden and protect Red Sea shipping lanes, according to IRNA.
Iran has developed a large domestic arms industry in the face of international sanctions and embargoes that have barred it from importing many weapons.
It launched its first home-made destroyer in 2010 as part of a program to revamp its navy equipment, which dates back to the 1979 Islamic Revolution and is mostly US-made.
This is the third incident of an Iranian warship sinking in the past six years – the Damavand sank in the Caspian Sea in January 2018 after hitting a breakwater, and the Kharg sank in June 2021 following a fire in the Gulf of Oman.