13 Crazy Persian Gulf Events

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• published: 14 Sep 2016
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From discovering artifacts in the sea from an ancient Persian dynasty to even coming across a mysterious sea creature in water! 8. Drinking Water A widespread shortage of water in Iran in recent years has led their government to look to the Persian Gulf for a solution. The Minister of Power recently announced a project whose goal is to provide drinking water for 45 million people in 17 provinces of the region. General decline in precipitation and years of water mismanagement have led to this water crisis that has become a top priority for Iran’s government. 7. The MV Dara Sinks The Gulf’s biggest maritime tragedy in peacetime took place on the MV Dara more than half a century ago. The Dara was a passenger liner that took off with 700 passengers and crew from Bombay. While sailing the Persian Gulf a giant explosion ripped through the ship, causing a fire that would last for two days before the vessel would finally sink to the bottom of the Gulf. The disaster claimed 238 lives. A survivor, who published an account of the incident, describes the sound of the wind tearing through the ship being drowned out by the sound of human screams and says that those screams have haunted him his whole life. 6. Iran’s Suez Canal This hasn’t been built yet, but if it ever does it will be a huge deal. Iran is planning to construct an artificial canal linking the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf. The ambitious project faces a ton of hurdles, but it is expected to be commissioned sometime in the 2020’s. Issues to overcome include the cost of the project, the many different countries that would have to be involved and the difference in elevation between the Iranian regions that would have to be connected. It is a project that has been discussed since the 1980’s and would be extremely beneficial to the regions in the area, especially Iran. 5. Nowruz Oil Field Spill The Gulf War oil spill is infamous thanks to the fact that it was both the biggest oil spill ever and that it was done intentionally. Historically it overshadows another big oil spill that also occurred in the Persian Gulf. On February 10, 1983 a tanker collided with a platform at the Nowruz Oil Field, causing a spill of approximately 1,500 barrels daily. The well was left uncapped for over 7 months because it was in the middle of the Iran/ Iraq war zone. Finally the well was capped by the Iranians on September 18,1983 in an operation that would claim 11 lives. 4. Unknown Creature Surfaces People ran wild with speculation when this and several other photos surfaced in July of 2013. An Iranian vessel discovered this unknown creature floating around in the Persian Gulf. The vessel was unable to haul the giant carcass back to land so we will never know for sure what it was. While some claimed it could have been the loch ness monster, it was more than likely, a whale carcass. 3. U.S. Boats Seized In January of this year two United States Navy riverine command boats and their crews were seized by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy for wandering into Iranian territorial water. The issue was quickly resolved and the fleet was released after 15 hours. It comes amid a string of recent incidents between the two navies in the Persian Gulf. In late August, four of Iran’s ships got dangerously close to a U.S. destroyer traveling at high speeds. The U.S. ships fired off 10 flares before the approaching vessels finally veered off course. The U.S. called the incident unsafe and unprofessional. 2. USS Stark Incident An Iraqi jet aircraft fired missiles at the USS Stark on May 17 1987, killing 37 of its crew and injuring an additional 21. The incident took place amidst the Iran- Iraq war and analysis of the incident revealed that the crew was partly to blame as they failed to warn the Iraqi jet that it was approaching a United States vessel. The remaining crew spent the night of the incident and the following day fighting a fire on the ship and the vessel was eventually able to make it back to land under her own power. 1. Gulf War Oil Spill Iraqi forces purposefully opened valves at the Sea Island oil terminal and dumped millions of barrels of oil into the Persian Gulf at the end of January 1991. The incident was a wartime move against U.S. forces and remains the largest oil spill in history to this day. People who witnessed the spill explain that it is hard to describe the amount of oil in the water. While the Persian Gulf was shockingly resilient to the large amount of oil in her waters it still devastated marine wildlife and coastal habitats in the Gulf.