Sri Lanka Navy Confirms Iranian Warship Missing; 32 Rescued, Bodies Recovered in Ongoing Operation

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Sri Lanka Navy says the Iranian warship Iris Dena was not visible when rescue teams reached the reported location in international waters, with only life rafts found at the scene.

Navy Media Director Commander Buddhika Sampath said the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) had received a distress signal early this morning, triggering a rapid response.

“This is a warship. The vessel was not visible when we reached the location. We only saw the life rafts,” he said. He added that the Navy cannot yet confirm what caused the distress situation.

Commander Sampath firmly rejected external claims about the cause of the incident, stating: “We reject the statements as the Sri Lanka Navy. Our primary role now is to rescue those who were in the vessel. The cause for the distress must be investigated later on.”

He explained that although the incident occurred outside Sri Lanka’s territorial waters, it was within Sri Lanka’s Search and Rescue Region, obliging a response under international maritime conventions.

“We are a maritime nation, and we are the first responders as per international obligations,” he said.

Upon receiving the distress alert, the Navy coordinated with the MRCC, Sri Lanka Air Force, and Coast Guard, and dispatched vessels equipped with search‑and‑rescue teams and necessary equipment.

Reaching the area, rescue teams found individuals floating in the water and immediately recovered them. Subsequent inquiries confirmed that the y were sailors from the Iranian vessel. The rescued personnel were urgently transferred to the Karapitiya Regional Hospital for medical treatment.

Commander Sampath confirmed the recovery of deceased individuals as well. “We found some dead bodies in that particular area, and we suspect these bodies are related to the same ship because they were discovered in the demarcated search‑and‑rescue zone,” he said.

A total of 32 survivors have been rescued, while search and rescue operations continue with ongoing assessments of maritime and weather conditions.

“Once we received the distress signal and dispatched the first craft, we found a slight oil patch and floating life rafts in that area. We understood survivors would be in the water and continued our search,” Commander Sampath said.He reiterated that Sri Lanka, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Coast Guard remain fully engaged in the ongoing operation.