Forty Iranian seafarers evacuated from stranded merchant vessels off Sri Lanka for medical treatment returned to Iran yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The ministry said Sri Lanka had coordinated the humanitarian operation through Galle following distress calls concerning the crew members’ medical conditions. The vessels were located approximately 24 nautical miles offshore.
The Iranian Embassy in Colombo arranged and facilitated the evacuation, with all 40 seafarers departing for Iran after receiving treatment ashore.
Officials said the sailors, who were aboard US-sanctioned oil tankers anchored outside Sri Lanka’s territorial waters, were brought ashore through the Port of Galle over the weekend.
“We have coordinated the transfer and carried out our humanitarian obligations,” ministry spokesperson Thushara Rodrigo told AFP. “The costs were borne by the Iranian Embassy.”
Nearly a dozen empty Iranian tankers had been anchored near Galle Harbour, with Iranian tankers and other merchant vessels unable to return to their home ports because of a US blockade, according to officials.
Sri Lankan authorities maintained that the vessels were in international waters, where they enjoyed freedom of navigation. Defence officials said reconnaissance aircraft and patrol boats had been deployed to monitor vessels outside the country’s 12-nautical-mile territorial waters.
The evacuation followed a separate incident in March, when a US submarine sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena in nearby international waters, killing 104 sailors. Sri Lanka’s Navy rescued 32 sailors, while a second Iranian naval vessel sought safe harbour in Trincomalee.
Authorities said many Iranian merchant vessels had moved east towards the Strait of Malacca and Singapore because of US sanctions, while a few remained near Sri Lankan waters.
