He made the remarks on Monday in an interview with IRNA.
“With timely measures taken by the crew, we succeeded in controlling the extent of damage to the tanker and prevented oil leakage," he added.
SABITI oil tanker is on its way towards the Persian Gulf in a stable condition, he said, adding, “it is predicted that SABITI will arrive in Bandar Abbas in the next nine days.”
As soon as SABITI oil tanker arrives in Bandar Abbas, repair and maintenance services of the damaged oil tanker will start, Rastad added.
SABITI oil tanker has presently arrived in Bab el-Mandab and it will soon reach the Gulf of Aden, Rastad said, adding, “the oil tanker will then move towards the Strait of Hormuz through North Indian Ocean and then arrives in Bandar Abbas.”
According to the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), two explosions hit the Iranian oil tanker SABITI operated by the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) near the Saudi port city of Jeddah on Friday. The two explosions, ‘likely by missiles’, have hit the vessel at 5:00 and 5:20 AM on Friday some 60 miles off Jeddah, said NITC in a Friday statement.
It said that the explosion has hit the vessel’s hull, causing heavy damages to the vessel’s main reservoirs, which had resulted in an oil spill in the Red Sea.
Technical experts on the oil tanker and experts in NITC headquarters are still investigating the cause of the explosions.
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