Sri Lanka Navy reveals more information after Iranian ship sinks off southern coast

The Sri Lanka Navy has shared more details about the Iranian ship that reportedly sank off the southern coast of Sri Lanka. Earlier today, the Navy confirmed that it rescued 32 individuals after receiving a distress signal from the Iranian navy vessel ‘IRIS Dena’ in the early morning hours. During a special press briefing on April 4, Navy Media Spokesperson Commander Buddhika Sampath emphasized that the main goal of the operation was to save lives. “Our top priority is to rescue everyone on the distressed ship. We will conduct an investigation and create a technical report only after the rescue is complete,” he explained. He also mentioned that the exact number of people who were on the ship is still unclear. “When our teams arrived at the location, we noticed a large oil slick, which indicates that the ship has sunk. So far, we have rescued 32 Iranian nationals, who are now receiving care at Karapitiya Hospital. We will share more information once we gather details from them,” the spokesperson continued. He added that several bodies were discovered floating in the water, raising suspicions that they might belong to the ship's crew. “Although it happened outside our waters, it was within our designated search and rescue area, so we had to respond in line with our international responsibilities.” He concluded: “We found people in the water, rescued them, and later confirmed that they were from the Iranian ship.”