Sri Lanka takes control of Iranian ship, brings crew to shore

Sri Lanka began transferring more than 200 sailors from an Iranian vessel to shore on Friday after the ship sought help while anchored outside the country’s waters, as tensions mounted in the Indian Ocean following the sinking of an Iranian warship by a US submarine.Sri Lanka Navy spokesman Commander Buddhika Sampath said the sailors of the IRIS Bushehr were being brought first to the port of Colombo and the ship will later be moved to an eastern port on the island.“The disembarkation is in progress,” he said, adding the sailors would be taken to the naval base at Welisara, about 20km (12 miles) north of Colombo, after medical exams and immigration procedures.The move by the Sri Lankan government to take over the vessel came after the US sank the Iranian warship IRIS Dena off Sri Lanka’s coast on Wednesday.The strike marked one of the rare instances since World War II in which a submarine sank a surface warship, and highlighted the expanding scope of the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran.Sri Lanka Navy personnel assist Iranian sailors after responding to a distress call from the IRIS Dena, which later sank, with dozens dead, on Wednesday. Photo: Handout via ReutersThe Dena had participated in naval exercises hosted by India before heading into international waters on its way home.