Sri Lankan maritime authorities are tracking 11 Iranian oil tankers in international waters near the southern coast, with officials stating they have taken no action as the vessels remain outside territorial limits.
Sri Lanka's maritime authorities have been monitoring a cluster of 11 Iranian-flagged oil tankers positioned in international waters off the island's southern coast, according to Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath. The vessels, which are subject to US sanctions, have been spotted near Galle harbour, the same area where an Iranian frigate sank in March following a US submarine incident that claimed 104 lives and prompted Sri Lankan naval personnel to rescue 32 Iranian sailors.
Herath emphasized that the tankers operate beyond Sri Lanka's territorial jurisdiction, stating that his country has neither control over the vessels nor facilitated their presence. "These ships are away from our territorial waters… we have no hold on them, nor have we facilitated them," the foreign minister told media outlets. The Sri Lankan military has deployed reconnaissance aircraft and patrol boats to conduct surveillance operations on the flotilla from outside the nation's 12-nautical-mile territorial waters.
According to military officials, there have been no observed instances of ship-to-ship oil transfers or illegal pollution discharge among the monitored vessels. "There is no indication of any ship-to-ship transfer of oil or illegal discharge of pollutants, so there is no basis for Sri Lankan authorities to take action against them," a military spokesperson stated anonymously. The tankers remain stranded due to a US-imposed blockade preventing their return to Iranian ports, though many other Iranian merchant vessels have redirected their routes toward the Strait of Malacca and Singapore. Sri Lankan authorities noted that Washington has not formally communicated with Colombo regarding the presence of these sanctioned vessels.
