No One Responded To Help Requests Of Attacked Iranian Tanker Sabiti - Maritime Authority

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th October, 2019) The Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) of Iran said in a statement on Sunday that no regional maritime authority had responded to the distress signals of the Iranian tanker Sabiti, which was attacked earlier this week off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea.

On Friday, Iranian media reported that an explosion had set the National Iranian Oil Company's tanker Sabiti on fire 60 miles from the Saudi port city of Jeddah, suggesting it was a terrorist attack. The Iranian Foreign Ministry subsequently said that the vessel had suffered two attacks with an interval of around 30 minutes in the Red Sea and had been damaged.

"No regional maritime administration responded to calls for assistance by MT Sabiti, and PMO considers that in contrast and violation of international customary requirements, as well as humanitarian principles," the statement read.

According to the PMO, the vessel released a total of 16 distress signals and sent emails about being attacked to the maritime rescue coordination centers (MRCC) of Egypt, Sudan and Saudi Arabia.

Moreover, the Iranian MRCC Bandar Abbas further contacted the Saudi port of Jeddah via telephone to request emergency assistance for the Sabiti, however the latter did not confirm receiving distress alerts from the vessel itself and considered the request an exaggeration, the statement claimed.

The Iranian organization emphasized that the Jeddah MRCC never actually proceeded to investigating the issue and responding to it, despite promising to do so.

The General Directorate of Saudi Border Guard has earlier claimed that they had indeed been informed about the Iran-flagged tanker requesting assistance in the Red Sea but that the vessel never responded to attempts to establish contact with it. Instead, it closed its transponders and continued its journey 67 miles southwest of the port of Jeddah.