Iran has called for foreign help to recover a $40 million gas platform from the Gulf seabed, its Mehr news agency reported, in a rare request by an industry isolated by sanctions.

The South Pars project to develop Iran’s part of the world’s largest gasfield has been hampered by a withdrawal of international energy companies, under pressure from US and European governments, and difficulties in acquiring technology due to sanctions on trade, said a report in our sister publication, the Gulf Daily News.

The platform’s huge metal support jacket plunged 80 metres below the surface after a crane broke during installation.

The structure, one of four planned for South Pars, weighs more than 1,000 tonnes, and the companies involved – state-run service company Sadra and a National Iranian Oil Company subsidiary – have asked for foreign companies to help rescue it. – TradeArabia News Service