India Prepares to Send Back Naval Personnel from Iranian Ship Anchored in Kochi

Kochi: Due to a technical malfunction, the Iranian ship Iris Lavan, which had anchored at the Kochi port, is now being prepared to send its naval personnel back to Iran. The ship has 183 crew members on board. Since the beginning of the conflict in West Asia, the ship has been anchored at Kochi port since March 4.

Iris Lavan was part of the Iranian naval delegation that participated in the International Fleet Review held in Visakhapatnam in February, and also took part in the Milan 2026 naval exercises before returning. Reports state that only the crew members will be sent back, while the ship itself will remain at Kochi. The decision has been made to send the crew either via Azerbaijan or Armenia by land routes.

On February 28, after reporting a technical malfunction, the Iranian authorities requested permission from India to anchor at Kochi port. Permission was granted on March 1 for the ship to remain there. On the day when the US and Israel attacked Tehran, Iran had requested docking for three of its warships: Iris Lavan, Iris Bushehr, and Iris Dena. Of these, only Iris Lavan arrived at Kochi. Iris Bushehr anchored in Sri Lanka, while Iris Dena was destroyed by a US submarine attack.