The crew of the Iranian naval ship, IRIS Bushehr, fled after the vessel docked at the Sri Lankan port of Colombo, according to reports. The vessel had 208 naval personnel on board, including 53 officers and 84 officer cadets, most of whom abandoned the vessel after it called at the port.
IRIS Bushehr was an auxiliary ship that accompanied the warship IRIS Dena, which was torpedoed by the United States off the Sri Lankan coast. Soon after, IRIS Bushehr requested permission to dock at the port, citing "technical engine malfunction".
However, a former official revealed to Iran International that the ship's request for humanitarian aid under the pretext of a technical malfunction was in fact a cover for a "mass desertion" of the crew. There was a deep collapse of trust among the staff towards its crew, the unnamed official told Iran International.
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He added that the sinking of IRIS Dena by an American submarine shook the Iranian personnel who felt that the Iranian regime did not care about their lives or their fate. The official added that all 208 crew members left the ship and were transferred to the Welisara naval base, and are now under the supervision of the Sri Lankan security authorities.
Sri Lanka has decided to formally take charge of the Iranian vessel IRIS Bushehr (422) and its 208 crew, following days of discussions with relevant authorities, diplomatic missions and the ship’s captain.
— Intelschizo (@Schizointel) March 5, 2026
SLNS Sagara (P622) and SLNS Gajabahu (P626) and several tugs are… pic.twitter.com/cJlyF9VdqH
The report added that though representatives of the Iranian embassy were allowed to meet the sailors face-to-face, the Iranian regime did not provide them any consular service as a punitive measure. As per Sri Lankan officials, neither the sailors nor the ship will return to Tehran till the current war continues and the Iranian regime remains in power.
Meanwhile, Iran International also reported that survivors of IRIS Dena claimed that the US warned them to abandon the ship twice, but the destroyer’s captain did not allow them to leave, which led to clashes between some of the crew members and the captain. Sri Lanka announced that the bodies of 84 crew members had been recovered from the water and placed in the forensic department of the port hospital.
