TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A total of 204 people from the Iranian naval vessel IRIS Bushehr have been safely evacuated to the port of Colombo, said the Sri Lankan Navy in a statement on Friday, March 6, 2026.
Media Spokesperson of the Sri Lankan Navy, Commander Buddhika Sampath, stated that IRIS Bushehr was scheduled to be taken to the eastern port of Trincomalee on the same day as reported by Xinhua and cited by Antara.
Sampath mentioned that the Iranian sailors will be taken to the navy camp in Welisara, the northern outskirts of the capital. “They will be subject to medical examination as a formality of registration,” Sampath said.
The Sri Lankan Navy stated that 204 out of the 208 Iranian personnel on the IRINS Bushehr have been safely transferred to the port of Colombo as reported by The Telegraph India. Meanwhile, four sailors remain on the vessel due to issues with one of its engines.
IRIS Bushehr is an Iranian navy vessel that previously participated in the maritime exercise in India, the International Fleet Review 2026, along with another vessel, IRIS Dena.
Dena sank off the southern coast of the island after a US submarine attack on Wednesday as they were returning to Iran. The attack on the unarmed warship in international waters resulted in at least 87 deaths, 32 injuries, and dozens still missing.
"No One Deserves to Die"
The IRIS Bushehr had requested permission to enter Sri Lankan waters a few days ago, and Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake stated that the government decided to grant entry on humanitarian grounds.
In a televised address on Thursday, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said that the vessel had requested to enter Sri Lankan waters due to engine damage.
“We wanted to remain neutral while dealing with a humanitarian response," he said, adding that Sri Lanka's role is limited to responding to the requests of one party involved in the conflict.
“No one deserves to die. Every life is precious,” the president said.
He also criticized opposition parties for attempting to politicize the situation.
“We won't succumb to pressure. We will maintain our neutrality," Dissanayake said.
According to the president, the vessel carried 208 personnel, including 53 officers, 84 cadets, 48 senior sailors, and 23 crew members.
Dissanayake stated that Iran initially requested permission on February 26 for the vessel to make a four-day "goodwill visit" to the port of Colombo between March 9 and 13.
“That was not the proper way for goodwill visits. We were studying the situation. On February 27, we were told that a sailor had tripped and fallen and required assistance to bring him ashore," he added.
He also added that after the attack on IRIS Dena, the first Iranian vessel torpedoed by the United States, the second Iranian vessel requested to berth in Colombo on March 4 and 5.
Meanwhile, hospitals in Galle stated that the morgue capacity of the Karapitiya hospital was inadequate to accommodate over 90 Iranian sailor bodies killed in the US submarine attack on the first vessel.
The bodies were temporarily stored wrapped in sawdust and ice, until the government decides on their repatriation.
Sri Lanka announced on Wednesday that they had found 84 Iranian sailor bodies after the US submarine sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena off the Galle coast in the southern part of the island.
The vessel was on its way back to Iran from Visakhapatnam in India, where it had participated in a navy fleet review exercise.
The United States and Israel have conducted joint attacks on Iran since February 28, with the conflict spreading to most of the Gulf region after Tehran's retaliation.
Read: Second Iranian Ship Heads to Sri Lanka After US Submarine Attack
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