The Sri Lankan Navy said 204 of the 208 Iranian personnel aboard the warship IRINS Bushehr were safely transferred to the port of Colombo on Friday, two days after another Iranian frigate was sunk near Sri Lanka.
Four sailors remain on the Bushehr, which developed trouble with one of its engines. The navy said it will take at least two more days for the vessel to reach the eastern port of Trincomalee from its current position off Colombo.
Navy spokesman Commander Buddika Sampath said the transferred sailors will be taken to the navy camp at Welisara, a northern suburb of Colombo, and will undergo medical examination as part of formal registration.
In a televised address on Thursday, President Ranil Dissanayake said the Bushehr had sought permission to enter Sri Lankan waters citing an engine failure. He said Sri Lanka wanted to remain neutral while providing a humanitarian response and that the government’s role was limited to responding to a request from a party involved in the conflict.
“No one deserves to die. Every life is precious,” Dissanayake said, and he criticized opposition parties for trying to politicize the situation, adding, “We won’t succumb to pressure. We will maintain our neutrality.”
Dissanayake said the ship had 208 personnel: 53 officers, 84 cadets, 48 senior sailors and 23 seamen. He said Iran had earlier sought permission on February 26 for a four-day visit to Colombo from March 9 to 13, which Sri Lanka was still considering. On February 27, authorities were informed that a sailor had tripped and required assistance to go ashore.
After the attack on IRIS Dena—the first Iranian ship reported torpedoed by the US—the second Iranian vessel requested to dock on March 4 and 5, Dissanayake said. — with agencies
