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Exclusive: Before it was sunk by US, Iranian ship IRIS Dena was offered shelter by India
Second Iran warship, IRIS Lavan, docked at Kochi on March 4
A photo released by Sri Lanka’s President Media Division shows Lankan navy personnel rescuing sailors of Iranian warship Dena. (PTI)
Before Iranian frigate IRIS Dena was sunk by a US submarine near Sri Lanka, India had offered it shelter at one of its ports, The Indian Express has learnt.
The Dena, which left Visakhapatnam after participating in the International Fleet Review (IFR) and MILAN-2026 exercise that ended on February 25 , was torpedoed in the early hours of March 4. According to the Indian Navy, the warship was operating 20 nautical miles west of Galle.
The safe harbour offer was said to have been made in view of the rising tensions between the US and Iran. Hostilities erupted on February 28 when Israel and the US carried out the first wave of air strikes across Iran.
On Friday, government sources said a second Iranian warship, IRIS Lavan, docked at Kochi port on March 4, the day the Dena was torpedoed.
Sources said that on February 28, Iran requested India to take in the Lavan since the vessel had developed technical issues.
Approval for its docking was granted on March 1 and the Lavan arrived in Kochi on March 4. Its crew of 183 have been accommodated in naval facilities in Kochi, the sources said.
On Friday afternoon, The Indian Express emailed queries to the Indian Navy regarding the offer of shelter to IRIS Dena and the docking of another warship in Kochi.
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By evening, government sources confirmed that IRIS Lavan docked at Kochi port on March 4 and has been there since.
On Thursday, Sri Lanka said it had allowed Iranian warship IRIS Bushehr to dock at one of its ports.
A day earlier, the Sri Lankan Navy had launched a search and rescue (SAR) operation after IRIS Dena issued a distress call around 5.30 am local time.
It rescued 32 personnel from the doomed frigate. Hospital authorities in Galle said 87 bodies were brought in by military rescuers. Around 60 of the estimated 180 on board were likely unaccounted for, Sri Lankan authorities said.
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On Thursday, the Indian Navy said it had also deployed its aircraft and ships in the vicinity — a P8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft and INS Tarangini — to augment the SAR efforts for IRIS Dena after it put out a distress call.
The Navy said INS Ikshak also sailed from Kochi to augment the search efforts and continued to remain in the area to search for missing personnel. Another aircraft with air-droppable life rafts was also kept on standby for immediate deployment.
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