According to Captain Nizar Qaddoura, operations manager of the Salem Al Makrani Cargo company, the tough weather was the main cause of incident.
Rescuers had saved 16 crew members, the captain said. Another 11 had made it onto a life raft, while one person was saved by a nearby tanker. Two crew members were still in the water, he said.
The crew consisted of nationals from Sudan, India, Pakistan, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia, Captain Qaddoura said. The vessel had been on its way to Umm Qasr, Iraq, carrying cars and other cargo, he said.
The ship was 30 miles away from Iran’s Assaluyeh port in the Persian Gulf, Iran’s official IRNA news agency said.
Maritime authorities blamed bad weather for the ship’s sinking, the agency said.
The Persian Gulf remains a major waterway for trade, ranging from cargo ships and energy shipments from the oil-rich region.
It is very rare for a vessel to sink in the area. However, dust storms and other poor weather have swept across the region as the seasons change from relatively cold winter months to the scorching days of summer.
The Iran Meteorological Organization reported that severe weather swept the Persian Gulf from Wednesday, warning of powerful wind gusts that would disrupt maritime activities in the region and damage offshore facilities through Saturday.