In this photo taken on Oct 31, 2012 the Iranian Kharg 431 supply navy ship is seen docked in the Red Sea Sudanese town of Port Sudan.
An Iranian navy vessel sank in the Gulf of Oman due to a fire that broke out during a training mission, the Islamic Republic of Iran Army said on Wednesday.
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Crew of the “Khark” vessel were safely transferred to the coast but the ship sank off the Iranian port of Jask after 20 hours of operations to put out the blaze, according to an army statement on its website. The ship was used as a support and training vessel by Iran’s navy for over four decades, it said.
"All efforts to save the vessel were unsuccessful and it sank," the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
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The incident occurred close to the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global oil shipments.
In April, Iran said one of its vessels, the Saviz, had been targeted in the Red Sea, after media reports the ship had been attacked with limpet mines.