Sri Lanka on alert for second Iranian vessel after fatal strike

Sri Lanka said it was trying to "safeguard lives" on a second Iranian ship off its coast on Thursday, a day after 87 people were killed in a US submarine strike on an Iranian warship in the same region, an attack that Iran said the US would "bitterly regret".

Sri Lanka's cabinet spokesman told parliament that Colombo was aware that there was another Iranian ship in Sri Lanka's exclusive economic zone outside its maritime boundary and it was, "addressing the situation".

The cabinet spokesman was responding to questions from an opposition leader on whether the government was aware that another Iranian ship was near the port of Colombo. "The President, defence officials, and all other relevant officials are aware and we are addressing the situation," spokesman Nalinda Jayatissa said.

"We are doing our utmost to safeguard lives." He did not say on whether the ship was a military vessel or not.

Jayatissa said that the IRIS Dena was sunk 19 nautical miles (35.2 kilometres) off Sri Lanka's southern port city of Galle and that two freezers had been dispatched from Colombo to store the 87 bodies recovered from the sea on Wednesday.