Iranian Freighter Sinks in the Caspian Sea

An Iranian-flagged freighter has gone down in the Caspian Sea, according to Turkmenistan's ministry of foreign affairs.

On January 14, the cargo ship Rona issued a distress call off the coast of Turkmenistan. Turkmen responders reached the scene promptly and rescued all 14 people aboard the vessel, the ministry said. The crew was composed of Iranian and Indian nationals.

Unverified footage on Ukrainian social media showed apparent damage amidships, accompanied by smoke, and the vessel appeared to be trimmed heavily by the stern.

Rona provided a regular service rotation between ports in Iran and the Russian ports of Astrakhan, Makhachkala and Azov, according Ukrainian news channel Astra. This profile happens to align with the shipping route for deliveries of Iranian arms to Russian buyers for use in the war in Ukraine.

In 2023, the Wall Street Journal revealed details of the volume of trade on this known arms-trafficking corridor. Iran has provided the Russian government with billions of dollars in weaponry over the course of the last few years, according to Western officials, including ballistic missiles, artillery shells and long-range drones - much of it shipped across the Caspian.

There is no confirmation of the cause of Rona's sinking, but speculation has quickly turned to Ukraine's long-range strike drone forces. Ukrainian special operations forces have hit targets in the Caspian before, including a claimed strike on two Russian military cargo vessels just last month.