ATHENS, Greece -- The Iranian oil tanker Kharg 5, damaged in an explosion in the Atlantic almost two months ago, finally unloaded its cargo of crude oil onto another Iranian vessel at sea and headed for a European port for repairs, Tehran radio said Monday.
Mohammad Souri, chief of the National Iranian Tanker Company, told Tehran radio in an interview monitored in Athens that the Kharg 5 and the Shirkuh were bound together for the operation, and a total of 190,000 tons of oil was unloaded from the damaged ship.
On Dec. 18 an explosion occurred aboard the Kharg 5 after the ship was involved in a collison during a storm. The blast damaged one oil tank, spilling its crude into the sa. The remaining 14 tanks were mostly undamaged and retained their cargo. The exact cause of the explosion has not yet been determined.
Western maritime oficials said in January the Kharg 5 spill lost about 70,000 tons of oil in the Atlantic off the Moroccan coast.
Iran however denied the Kharg 5 was responsible for the slick. Souri quoted a British insurance company as saying the Spanish tanker Aragon was responsible.
He said the Aragon spilled 25,000 tons of oil in the north Atlantic off Morocco after a collision on Dec. 26, creating the oil slick spotted in early January. There was no comment from the Spanish authorities.
