The Indian Navy, reacting to the sinking of the Iranian warship IRIS Dena, said on Thursday a surveillance plane was deployed immediately while an Indian warship had reached the site by 4 pm yesterday. Also, a specialised survey vessel was on its way, the Navy said.

A distress call was received at the maritime rescue and coordination centre in Colombo in the early hours of March 4. The Iranian ship was operating 20 nautical miles (38 km) West of Galle when it was hit by a torpedo fired from a US submarine in the search and rescue region under Sri Lankan responsibility.

The Navy promptly launched its SAR efforts commencing with a long-range maritime patrol aircraft at 10 am on March 4 to augment the search efforts led by Sri Lanka.

Another aircraft with air droppable life rafts was also kept on standby for immediate deployment. INS Tarangini, which was operating in the vicinity, was deployed for aiding the rescue efforts and arrived in search area by 4 pm on March 4. By this time, SAR had been undertaken by the Sri Lankan navy and other agencies.

Meanwhile, INS Ikshak has also sailed from Kochi to augment search efforts and continues to remain in the area to search for missing personnel as a humanitarian measure. INS Ikshak is a survey vessel (large) class ship, it features advanced hydrographic survey equipment, including ROVs and side-scan sonars, for mapping ocean depths and supporting humanitarian. Coordination with the Sri Lankan side on search and rescue efforts was ongoing, the Navy said.