NEW DELHI: An Iranian Navy frigate that had participated in the Indian Navy’s International Fleet Review (IFR) and the multinational Exercise Milan in Visakhapatnam in mid-February sent out a distress signal south of Sri Lanka early Wednesday, triggering a rescue operation in which 30 injured sailors were brought ashore, according to Sri Lankan authorities.
The frigate, IRIS Dena, was on its return voyage to Iran after attending the naval engagements hosted by India when it reported an emergency at sea around dawn.
Sri Lankan authorities, quoted by news agency AFP, said the vessel, carrying around 180 crew members, issued the distress call while sailing about 40 nautical miles south of Galle, just outside Sri Lanka’s territorial waters. Responding to the alert, the Sri Lanka Navy dispatched ships and aircraft, while the Sri Lanka Air Force joined the rescue effort to evacuate sailors from the vessel.
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told Parliament that the injured sailors were being transported to hospitals in southern Sri Lanka. Authorities placed the main hospital in Galle, about 115 km south of Colombo, on alert to receive them.
Deputy Defence Minister Aruna Jayasekara was quoted in local media as saying that the Navy and Air Force were conducting a joint rescue operation to assist the crew.
Sri Lankan Navy spokesperson, Buddhika Sampath further said the response was carried out under the country’s international maritime obligations. “We responded to the distress call under our international obligations as this falls within Sri Lanka’s Search and Rescue Area in the Indian Ocean,” he said.
Responding to a query from The New Indian Express earlier, the U.S. Embassy spokesperson in New Delhi had said the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Pinckney, an Arleigh Burke-class warship slated to participate in the Visakhapatnam International Fleet Review and Exercise Milan, did not attend the events due to emergent operational requirements. The U.S. Navy instead deployed a P-8 maritime patrol aircraft for the engagements.
The destroyer had departed Singapore on February 11 after undergoing repairs.
Sources said it is considered likely, though still unclear, whether the Iranian frigate was being shadowed by USS Pinckney at the time of the incident or whether the development could have involved a U.S. Navy nuclear-powered submarine operating out of Diego Garcia.
The frigate IRIS Dena had been among the foreign warships that participated in the Indian Navy’s International Fleet Review in Visakhapatnam in mid-February, which brought together naval forces from several countries. The vessel also took part in the multinational Exercise Milan conducted alongside the fleet review.
The Chief of the Iranian Navy, Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, had also travelled to Visakhapatnam for the engagements, attending the IFR, the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) Conclave of Chiefs and Exercise Milan hosted by the Indian Navy.
The development comes amid heightened tensions in West Asia following recent US-Israel strikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliation.