Emirati cargo ship sinks off Iran's southern coast

TEHRAN, Iran

An Emirati-flagged cargo ship carrying cars has reportedly sunk off the coast of Iran's Assaluyeh port in the southern Bushehr province.

According to the local port authority, the heavily loaded cargo sunk early on Thursday 30 miles from the Assaluyeh port, situated on the southern coast of the Persian Gulf.

A team was immediately dispatched to rescue the 30-member crew onboard the ship, Anadolu Agency learned.

Assaluyeh Port is situated 300 km east of Bushehr province and approximately 100 km from the South Pars gas field.

Local maritime authorities blamed "unfavorable weather and strong winds" for the incident, state media said.

The crew members were reportedly wearing life jackets at the time of the incident.

The search and rescue operation for the crew was underway at the time of filing this report.

Hours before the boat sinking incident, a 6 magnitude earthquake had struck neighboring Hormozgan province.