At least 101 people are missing and 78 have been injured while the warship has sunk in what defence sources described as an obvious submarine attack on an Iranian Navy frigate off the southern coast of Sri Lanka, as Reuters and international news outlets reported today.
The warship, identified as the IRIS Dena, transmitted a distress call in the early hours of Wednesday morning in waters off Galle, leading the Sri Lankan Navy and Air Force to deploy rescue units to the scene. At least 32 sailors and officers were plucked from the water,Sri Lankan officials told news outlets. They were admitted to Karapitiya Teaching Hospital, where one was reported to be in a serious condition.
The frigate was carrying about 180 sailors and officers when it was attacked, said defence ministry and navy sources cited by Reuters. The ship sunk roughly 25-40 miles offshore. Local reports indicated that the injured have been admitted to Galle hospitals while search efforts have been underway for those who are missing.
There has been no independent confirmation that a submarine was the aggressor in this incident. Navy officials in Sri Lanka urged caution and pointed out that the “incident should not be labeled an attack” while they concentrate efforts on the search-and-rescue mission, reported Reuters. According to one spokesperson for the Navy of Sri Lanka, “The navy found no other ships or submarines in the area during the rescue operations. We are treating this strictly as a distress call, pending an engineering inquiry.”
The IRIS Dena is one of several Moudge-class frigates in the Iranian Navy’s Southern Fleet. It was in the Indian Ocean on its return journey after attending the Multi-National Fleet Review 2026 in India.
The incident is a noteworthy, atypical naval meeting within the context of ongoing hostilities involving Iran, the U.S., and Israel, where military activities have intensified over the past few days in the Middle East and abroad.
Efforts to establish the toll of the incident, rescue and verify causalities are ongoing. Sri Lankan and Iranian officials are liaising with each other in their search of survivors and to clarify the causes of the sinking of the warship.
