Sri Lankan authorities reportedly said on Wednesday that the Sri Lanka Navy dispatched a rescue mission after a distress call from an Iranian naval ship.
Iris Dena is a Moudge Class Frigate of the Iranian Navy (File/indiannavy.gov.in)
Sri Lanka sent ships and aircraft to rescue 30 Iranian sailors aboard the Iranian frigate – Iris Dena – which was sinking Wednesday just ouside the island’s territorial waters, AFP news agency reported, citing foreign minister Vijitha Herath said.
He told parliament that 30 injured sailors were being brought to a hospital in the island’s south from the 180-crew frigate was sinking from dawn.
While exact details of the operation that ensued after the distress call were not known, Sri Lankan news portal Ada Derana and several others reported that the Iranian ship in distress was about 40 nautical miles off Galle and was carryign 180 people.
Citing Aruna Jayasekara, deputy minister of defence, the reports person said the Navy and Air Force were conducting a joint rescue operation to extract the crew from the ship.
While the cause of the incident was not immediately known, it comes amid affects of the Middle East tensions spilling on to international waters, with ships being targeted by the fighting sides in the conflict triggered by US-Israel strikes on Iran last weekend and intensified by latter’s retaliation.
Sri Lankan Navy spokesman Buddhika Sampath said their operation was in line with Sri Lanka’s maritime obligations, AFP reported.
“We responded to the distress call under our international obligations, as this is within our Search and Rescue Area in the Indian Ocean,” Sampath was quoted as saying.
Local officials said the main hospital in Galle, 115 kilometres (70 miles) south of the capital, had been placed on alert to receive the evacuated sailors.
Foreign minister Herath told parliament that the injured sailors were taken to a hospital in the island’s south.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday they control the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping route for oil and gas, and any vessels seeking to pass through the waterway risk damage from missiles or stray drones. Track US-Iran war live updates
“Currently, the Strait of Hormuz is under the complete control of the Islamic Republic’s Navy,” AFP news agency quoted Guards Navy official Mohammad Akbarzadeh’s statement, issued on Fars news agency.
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday the US Navy was ready to escort oil tankers through the crucial Gulf shipping route.
