New Delhi, Mar 3: The Indian Navy on Thursday said it joined search and rescue operation after learning about a distress call from Iranian warship IRIS Dena which went down off the coast of Sri Lanka after being hit by a torpedo fired by a US submarine.
The Iranian warship was returning home after participating in the Milan multilateral naval exercise hosted by India. At least 87 Iranian sailors were killed in the attack, according to Sri Lankan authorities.
In a statement, the Indian Navy said it promptly launched its search and rescue (SAR) efforts with a long-range maritime patrol aircraft at 10 am on Wednesday to augment the rescue operations led by Sri Lanka.
“Another aircraft with air droppable life rafts was also kept standby for immediate deployment. INS Tarangini which was operating in vicinity was deployed for aiding the rescue efforts and arrived in search area by 4 pm,” it said.
“By this time search and rescue had been undertaken by Sri Lankan Navy and other agencies,” it said.
The Indian Navy said a distress call from IRIS Dena was received at the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres (MRCC) Colombo in the early hours of Wednesday as reported by the Sri Lankan Navy.
It said the Iranian ship was operating 20 nautical miles West of Galle in an area under Sri Lanka’s responsibility.
“On receipt of the information, the Indian Navy promptly launched its SAR efforts commencing with a long-range maritime patrol aircraft at 1000 hours to augment the search efforts led by Sri Lanka,” the Navy said.
It said another Indian naval ship INS Ikshak also sailed from Kochi to augment the search efforts and continues to remain in the area to search for missing personnel.
“Coordination with the Sri Lankan side on Search and Rescue efforts is ongoing,” the Navy said.
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