Sri Lanka has begun the process of disembarking 208 crew members from a second Iranian vessel, following a tragic incident where a U.S. submarine attack on an Iranian warship resulted in 87 deaths, with several others still unaccounted for in the same area.

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake announced at a press conference in Colombo that they have reached a decision to aid the Iranian vessel after thorough discussions with all involved parties, as reported by Reuters.

President Dissanayake detailed that the crew being disembarked near Colombo port consists of 53 officials, 84 cadets, 48 senior sailors, and 23 sailors.

In a related image, the Iranian warship IRIS Dena is depicted in the Bay of Bengal. (AP Photo)

The IRIS Dena was sunk off Sri Lanka’s coast in the Indian Ocean this past Wednesday. Local authorities have sent two freezer units to store the 87 bodies that have been recovered from the sea.

General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated that the U.S. Navy used a “fast attack” method with a single Mark 48 torpedo to “effectively neutralize” the ship, achieving an “immediate effect” by sending it to the ocean floor.

An injured Iranian sailor is moved on a stretcher at Galle National Hospital, where the sailors are receiving treatment, following a submarine attack on the Iranian military ship, IRIS Dena, off the coast of Sri Lanka, in Galle, Sri Lanka, March 5, 2026. (Reuters/Thilina Kaluthotage)

Iran contends the ship was sunk in international waters without warning. 

“The U.S. will bitterly regret the precedent it has set,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a post on X.

Iran has asked Sri Lanka to assist with the repatriation of the bodies. 

Sri Lankan officials said the Dena was on its way home after taking part in a naval exercise organized by India in the Bay of Bengal from Feb. 18 to 25.

Healthcare workers unload the bodies of Iranian sailors from a vehicle who died when their IRIS Dena warship sank outside Sri Lanka’s territorial waters, in Galle, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Search and rescue operations would continue for an estimated 10 people who remain unaccounted for, they said.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that US forces had sunk a second Iranian ship off the coast of Sri Lanka.

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