Iranian Navy Ship IRIS Lavan Remains Docked in Kochi Six Months On

Six months after the outbreak of the war in West Asia, the Iranian Navy landing ship IRIS Lavan remains docked in Kochi with part of its crew still on board, even as the guardianship of the vessel has been transferred to the Cochin Port Authority.

The Lavan had arrived in India in February along with the frigate IRIS Dena to take part in the International Fleet Review and the MILAN 2026 multilateral naval exercises held in Visakhapatnam. As the ships set sail for home after the exercises, the war broke out. The Lavan docked at Kochi on March 4 — the same day the Dena was sunk by a US submarine in waters near Sri Lanka. A third Iranian Navy vessel, the fleet supply ship IRIS Bushehr, sought refuge in Sri Lanka on March 5.

India permitted the Lavan to dock at Kochi on humanitarian grounds after the vessel reported technical issues. The crew was hosted at Indian naval facilities. The ship had 183 crew members on board when it arrived. A month later, India repatriated the non-essential crew members. It is learnt that over 50 crew members, including more than two dozen essential personnel, are still in Kochi along with the ship.

Responding to a query, the Public Relations Officer of the Cochin Port Authority said, "As per directions from the Indian Navy, we are not in a position to disclose or share any information regarding IRIS Lavan at this stage. We are unable to provide any further details for the time being."

On March 7, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India had allowed the Lavan to dock in Kochi on humanitarian grounds. Recalling the sequence of events, he said a message was received from the Iranian side on February 28 that one of the ships, presumably the closest to Indian waters at the time, wanted to enter an Indian port and was reporting problems. India conveyed its approval on March 1, and the vessel docked at Kochi after a few days of sailing.

Jaishankar noted that many of those on board were young cadets who had disembarked and were staying at a nearby facility. He observed that when the ships set out for India, the situation was entirely different, as they were arriving for a fleet review before being caught on the wrong side of events. He said that allowing the ship to come in, especially when it was in difficulties, was the humane thing to do.