NEW DELHI: The Indian Navy on Thursday said it diverted an American-origin P-8I aircraft along with naval ships after receiving a distress call from the Iranian Navy frigate IRIS Dena, which was operating in the Sri Lanka's Search and Rescue (SAR) region, to assist ongoing rescue operations. “A distress call from IRIS Dena was received at the MRCC Colombo in the early hours of Wednesday as reported by the Sri Lankan Navy. The ship was operating 20 NM west of Galle in the SAR (search and rescue) region under Sri Lankan responsibility,” the Navy said in a statement. According to the Navy, the distress alert was relayed through the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Colombo, following which Indian assets were deployed to assist the search efforts being led by Sri Lanka. “On receipt of the information, the Indian Navy promptly launched its SAR efforts commencing with a long-range maritime patrol aircraft at 1000 hr on Wednesday to augment the search efforts led by Sri Lanka,” the statement said.

Source: Indian Express March 05, 2026 16:54 UTC