Iranian sailors rescued in Sea of Oman return home

International News, News, Others, Press Release | 06:47 AM

A photo taken from the US Navy’s USS James E. Williams destroyer shows a burning Iranian-flagged wooden boat in the Sea of Oman on August 8, 2012.

 
A provincial official in Iran says a group of Iranian sailors whose wooden boat had caught fire in the Sea of Oman have been rescued by a foreign vessel and returned home.
 
Hormozgan Provincial Governor Ebrahim Azizi told Fars News Agency that the Iranian Coast Guard picked up the mariners from a foreign vessel on Friday morning, and transferred them to the southern port city of Jask — situated about 1,690 kilometers (1,050 miles) south of the Iranian capital city of Tehran.

He added that there had been two Pakistani sailors in addition to eight Iranians on the boat.

Meanwhile, Spokesman for the US Navy’s Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet Lieutenant Greg Raelson says the crew members of the Iranian boat were rescued and taken aboard the US Navy’s USS James E. Williams destroyer.

In late May, the Iranian Navy saved an American-flagged cargo ship that was being attacked by pirates in the Sea of Oman.

Senior director of marketing at Maersk Line – the vessel’s owner – Kevin Speers also said the Iranian Navy was the first to respond to the initial distress call from the Maersk Texas.

MP/HMV/SS

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