3 min readNew DelhiSep 18, 2026 12:26 PM IST
First published on: Sep 18, 2026 at 05:20 AM IST
Six months after the outbreak of the war in West Asia, Iranian Navy landing ship IRIS Lavan, which docked in Kochi on March 4, the day the frigate IRIS Dena was sunk by a US submarine in the waters near Sri Lanka, remains at the port city with part of its crew.
The Lavan and Dena had come to India in February to participate in the International Fleet Review and the MILAN 2026 multilateral naval exercises in Visakhapatnam. As the ships set out for home after the exercise, the war began. A third Iranian Navy ship, the fleet supply vessel IRIS Bushehr, sought refuge in Sri Lanka on March 5.
India allowed the Lavan to dock at Kochi on March 4 on humanitarian grounds after the vessel reported technical issues. The crew was hosted at Indian naval facilities.
It is learnt that over two dozen essential crew members of the Lavan are still in Kochi, a long with the ship. The guardianship of the vessel has now been transferred to the Cochin Port Authority, sources said.
Responding to a query from The Indian Express for comment, the PRO of the Cochin Port Authority said, “As per directions from the Indian Navy, we are not in a position to disclose or share any information regarding IRIS Lavan at this stage. We are unable to provide any further details for the time being.”
The Lavan had 183 crew members on board when it docked at Kochi in March. A month later, India repatriated the non-essential crew members. It is learnt that over 50 crew members are still in Kochi.
On March 7, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said that India allowed the Lavan to dock in Kochi on humanitarian grounds.
“You had these ships, and we got a message from the Iranian side that one of the ships, which presumably was closest to… our waters at that point of time… wanted to come into our port. They were reporting that they were having problems. And so, my recollection is this was on the 28th (February). And on the 1st (March), we said, ‘okay, you can come in,” he said.
“It took them a few days to sail in, and then they docked in Kochi. And the ship is there. And obviously, the people on the ship, a lot of them young cadets… They have disembarked. They are, you know, in a nearby facility… When they set out and came here, the situation was totally different. They were coming in for a fleet review, and then they got, in a way, caught on the wrong side of events. So for us, when this ship wanted to come in, and that too in difficulties, I think it was the humane thing to do,” Jaishankar said.
A March 7 Reuters photograph shows IRIS Lavan at Kochi port. (Photo Enhanced using AI) 
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