India Sent Vessel To Help Sinking Iranian Warship Near Sri Lanka: Navy

New Delhi:The Indian Navy launched a search and rescue operation after receiving a distress signal from the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena, which sank in the Indian Ocean after reportedly being hit by a torpedo fired from a United States submarine.

According to the Navy, the distress alert was received by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Colombo in the early hours of March 4. At the time, the frigate was located about 20 nautical miles west of Galle, within Sri Lanka’s designated search and rescue region.

The Indian Navy responded immediately after receiving the information. A long-range maritime patrol aircraft was deployed at around 10 a.m. on March 4 to assist the search operations that were already being coordinated by Sri Lankan authorities. Another aircraft equipped with air-droppable life rafts was kept on standby for rapid deployment if required.

INS Tarangini, a sailing training vessel operating nearby, was directed to assist in the operation and reached the search area by 4 p.m. By then, the Sri Lankan Navy and other agencies had already begun rescue efforts. Meanwhile, INS Ikshak, a survey ship, sailed from Kochi to strengthen the operation and continues to search the area for missing crew members as part of a humanitarian effort.

Coordination between the Indian Navy and Sri Lankan authorities is ongoing.

The sinking occurred on March 4 when IRIS Dena was torpedoed in international waters about 40 nautical miles off Sri Lanka’s southern coast near Galle. The vessel reportedly issued a distress call at dawn after an explosion but had already sunk by the time Sri Lankan rescue ships reached the site. The incident occurred roughly an hour from Galle’s main naval base.

The frigate had been returning to Iran after participating in a military exercise in Visakhapatnam. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the attack, calling it an “atrocity at sea” in a post on X. He said the ship, carrying nearly 130 sailors, was struck without warning in international waters about 2,000 miles from Iran’s shores. Araghchi described the vessel as a “guest of India’s Navy” and warned that the United States would “bitterly regret” the action.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth later confirmed the strike at the Pentagon, describing it as a “quiet death” delivered by a torpedo. He said the attack reflected an expansion of military operations in the wider conflict triggered by the US-Israel strikes on Iran, which has increasingly spread beyond the Middle East.

Sri Lanka has maintained neutrality in the conflict and has repeatedly called for a diplomatic resolution. Iran is also a significant buyer of Sri Lankan tea, the island nation’s key export.

Meanwhile, another Iranian warship, IRIS Bushehr, approached Sri Lankan waters on Thursday. The vessel is believed to be carrying nearly 300 crew members and cadets.