Smoke rises from Iran navy’s largest ship in Jask port on Wednesday. WANA/Reuters

Gulf Today Report

The largest warship in the Iranian navy caught fire and later sank on Wednesday in the Gulf of Oman under unclear circumstances while on a "training mission" off a strategic port near the head of the Gulf, the navy said.

The Fars and Tasnim news agencies said efforts failed to save the support warship Kharg, named after the island that serves as the main oil terminal for Iran.

The blaze began around 2:25am and firefighters tried to contain it, Fars said. The vessel sank near the Iranian port of Jask, some 1,270 kilometres (790 miles) southeast of Tehran on the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz.

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The British-built fleet replenishment vessel Kharg, which measured more than 200 metres (more than 650 feet) long, caught fire on Tuesday off the port of Jask on the Gulf of Oman, the navy said.

This undated photo shows navy's support ship Kharg. Associated Press

Photos circulated on Iranian social media of sailors wearing life jackets evacuating the vessel as a fire burned behind them. State TV and semiofficial news agencies referred to the Kharg as a "training ship.” Fars published video of thick, black smoke rising from the ship early Wednesday morning.

Footage aired by state television showed a massive column of smoke rising from what it said was the burning vessel.

The fire broke out in "one of the systems" of the ship, a navy statement said without elaborating.

Firefighting efforts continued "for 20 hours" before the ship went down.

"Considering the spread of the fire, the mission to save the Kharg failed and it sank in waters off Jask," the navy said.