Sri Lanka Takes Control Of Iranian Vessel IRINS Bushehr & 208 Crew Members After US Attack

Sri Lanka has formally taken control of the Iranian naval vessel IRINS Bushehr and its 208 crew members, just a day after a US submarine torpedoed and sank another Iranian warship, IRIS Dena, off the island’s southern coast.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said the Bushehr reported engine trouble and requested permission to enter a Sri Lankan port on 4–5 March, as it struggled to return home through waters now turned into a war zone by the US–Israeli campaign against Iran.The ship, like the sunken Dena, had just taken part in India’s International Fleet Review and the MILAN 2026 naval exercise.