Iran’s naval destroyer sinks while being repaired in Strait of Hormuz

1,300-tonne vessel equipped with surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft batteries, sophisticated radar and radar-evading capabilities

Tehran: Iranian naval destroyer has sunk while it was being repaired in a port near the Strait of Hormuz, state media reported on Sunday.

State-run IRNA news agency reported that the Sahand destroyer, being repaired at a wharf, lost its balance due to water infiltration into the tanks.

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The agency added that due to the low depth in the waters, it is possible to bring back the destroyer to balance.

It also reported that injured people were transferred to hospital. It did not elaborate.

Sahand, named after a mountain in northern Iran, took six years to build and launched into the Persian Gulf in December 2018.

The 1,300-tonne vessel was equipped with surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft batteries and sophisticated radar and radar-evading capabilities.

In January 2018, a naval destroyer, Damavand, sank in the Caspian Sea after crashing into a breakwater.