Iran Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) rejected certain Arab media claims that an Iraqi tug boat has been hijacked by pirates in the territorial waters of Iran.
PMO Director-General of Maritime Affairs Hossein Abbasnejad explained that on March 5, after receiving an emergency message from an unidentified vessel in the vicinity of Saudi waters, a lifeboat was sent to the position from the Iranian port of Deir.
Upon reaching the declared position, it was determined that the crew of the vessel had been rescued by a foreign vessel and were being transferred to Ras al-Tanura, a city in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia located on a peninsula extending into the Persian Gulf, he added.
On March 10, with the announcement of the representative of the Iraqi owner of the vessel, it was revealed that the said tugboat, Delme1 (T4), had stuck into mud due to the weather conditions, 8 miles away from the Iranian Bushehr port, Abbasnejad said.
An Iraqi legislator had claimed last week that pirates had hijacked an Iraqi ship that was stranded outside the Iranian waters and took it to an unknown location.
