Indian navy says it did respond to distress call from the sunk Iranian navy warship off Sri Lanka

The Indian Navy today (5 March) said it joined search and rescue operations following a distress call from the Iranian warship IRIS Dena, which sank off the coast of Sri Lanka after being hit by a torpedo fired by a US submarine.

The Iranian warship was returning home after participating in the Milan multilateral naval exercise hosted by India last month. At least 87 Iranian sailors were killed in the attack, according to Sri Lankan authorities.

In a statement, the Indian Navy said it received a distress call from the Iranian warship Dena, which was received at the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres (MRCC) in Colombo in the early hours of Wednesday as reported by the Sri Lankan Navy.

The Iranian ship was operating 20 nautical miles West of Galle in an area under Sri Lanka's responsibility.

On receipt of the information, the Indian Navy promptly launched its Search and Rescue efforts commencing with a long-range maritime patrol aircraft at 1000 hours to bolster the search efforts led by Sri Lanka," the Indian Navy said.

It said another aircraft with air-droppable life rafts was also kept on standby for immediate deployment. Indian Navy ship Tarangini, which was operating in the vicinity, was deployed to help the rescue efforts and arrived in the search area by 4pm.

"By this time, search and rescue had been undertaken by the Sri Lankan Navy and other agencies," it said.

It said another Indian navy ship INS Ikshak also sailed from Kochi, Kerala, to augment the search efforts and continues to remain in the area to search for missing personnel.

According to the Indian Navy statement, the coordination with the Sri Lankan side on search and rescue efforts is ongoing."