Sri Lanka says it coordinated transfer of about 40 Iranian sailors from ships offshore

Sri Lankan authorities coordinated the transfer of about 40 Iranian sailors from vessels anchored off the country's coast, according to a Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry spokesman. The Hindu and Reuters each reported this independently.

The sailors came from more than one vessel. The Hindu describes the vessels as oil tankers, Reuters as commercial ships and Anadolu as merchant vessels. The ships were outside Sri Lanka's territorial waters. The Hindu placed them "just outside" those waters. Reuters said they were in international waters off the coast.

The sailors have since left Sri Lanka.

How the transfer unfolded

According to The Hindu, the vessels are oil tankers under U.S. sanctions. The Hindu cited the Foreign Ministry as saying the sailors received urgent medical treatment in Sri Lanka on Saturday, 24 October 2026. The sailors were brought ashore through the port of Galle, in Southern Province, and taken to Colombo for medical attention, according to spokesman Thushara Rodrigo and a senior Iranian Embassy official cited by The Hindu.

The unnamed Iranian Embassy official confirmed the development and said the sailors left on Saturday night, according to The Hindu. The newspaper wrote that this indicates they spent only a few hours on the island. Reuters cited a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying Sri Lanka supported the sailors' return to Iran. An Anadolu headline also describes them as repatriated, crediting an unspecified report.

Background

About a month earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. sanctions pressure had left the vessels stranded in Sri Lankan waters, according to The Hindu. Earlier in 2026, a U.S. submarine attacked and sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena off Sri Lanka's southern coast, killing at least 84 people, The Hindu reported. Sri Lanka's Navy evacuated injured sailors, who were treated at a public hospital in Galle district.

What each side says

Rodrigo told The Hindu: "We coordinated the transfer alone as per our humanitarian obligations. The Iranian Embassy bore all the expenses."

About a month earlier, the Foreign Ministry said Colombo would not extend assistance to the sanctioned vessels, according to The Hindu. It said the secondary sanctions were part of a broader directive from Washington and not specific to Sri Lanka.

Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath denied media reports of U.S. pressure, according to The Hindu. He said the government made its decisions while "strictly protecting the country's sovereignty" and was prepared to intervene on humanitarian grounds. The administration of Anura Kumara Dissanayake says it remains committed to a "neutral foreign policy", The Hindu reported.

What the reports do not say

The reports differ in framing: Reuters and Anadolu call the operation a rescue, while The Hindu describes a transfer for medical treatment. None explains the sailors' medical condition or what danger, if any, they faced. The reports do not name the vessels, their flag states, owners or the sanctions involved. They do not say whether other crew remain aboard, or confirm the sailors' arrival in Iran. They include no U.S. response and no on-record statement from Iran's government.

Analysis

The episode shows how a country that describes its foreign policy as neutral may handle requests linked to sanctioned vessels. Sri Lanka's Foreign Ministry framed the transfer as humanitarian and said Iran paid the costs. That framing could allow Colombo to assist crew members without extending help to the vessels themselves, which it said a month earlier it would not do. How Washington or Tehran views the move is not clear from the reports. Open questions include the fate of any remaining crew and the vessels, and whether similar humanitarian requests could arise again.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.