Turkmenistan’s coastguard has rescued 14 seafarers from an Iranian cargo ship that sank in the Caspian Sea.
Turkmenistan’s Foreign Ministry said that the Iranian-flagged Rona sent a distress signal yesterday. Their state emergency agencies intervened immediately. All 14 people on board – preliminarily identified as Iranian and Indian citizens – were safely rescued.
The cause of the disaster remains a mystery.
The Rona, built in 1983, is a 2,453-DWT general cargo ship. Ukrainian media suspect that the merchant vessel may be used to transport Iranian weapons to Russia. However, no details have been released about the cargo the ship was carrying at the time of the accident.
Translation by Giles Foster
