Eleven crew members of a Sri Lanka Navy Dvora fast attack craft have been rescued and hospitalised after the vessel ran into distress in the seas off Angulana on Saturday. One sailor remains missing.

Twelve personnel were aboard the craft, Hiru News reported, citing the Police Media Division. Eight of those rescued were admitted to Kalubowila Hospital for further treatment, while search and rescue operations continue for the twelfth crew member.

The Navy Media Spokesperson said an operation was launched based on information received about personnel on board the vessel. Daily Mirror reported that the craft was on a routine patrol in the area when the incident occurred.

At the Navy’s request, the Sri Lanka Air Force deployed two helicopters to the scene. The SLAF Media Spokesperson said an Mi-17 and a Bell 412 were sent to monitor the distressed vessel and assist in the rescue, Ada Derana reported.

Police, the Navy, the Air Force and local residents all took part in the operation, which was launched earlier in the day as the scale of the incident became clear.

The rescued personnel were taken to hospital for medical evaluation.

Cause not yet established

What caused the craft to run into difficulty has not been confirmed. Ada Derana described the vessel as having been “involved in an accident,” while Daily Mirror said it “encountered distress”; Hiru News headlined its English report as a capsizing. Daily Mirror said further details of the circumstances surrounding the incident were yet to be confirmed.

Angulana lies on the coast south of Colombo, in the Moratuwa area. Dvora-class fast attack craft form part of the Navy’s inshore patrol fleet.

Update, August 16: search and salvage continue

Search operations were still under way on Sunday, the Navy said, a day after the craft ran into distress. The eleven personnel rescued on Saturday remain under medical care and are in stable condition, Ada Derana reported.

A salvage operation for the craft itself was scheduled for Sunday, with prevailing rough sea conditions expected to pose a significant challenge, according to the Navy.

The Daily Mirror reported the same day that the craft encountered distress at around 11.40am on Saturday while returning from a routine patrol — the first time a time has been put on the incident. It said the Navy, supported by the Air Force and members of the local fishing community, had continued operations in the area, and that the local community played an important role in assisting the rescue.

Board of inquiry appointed

The Navy has appointed a special board of inquiry to conduct a preliminary investigation into the accident, Ada Derana reported on Sunday afternoon. The panel will examine the circumstances and the factors that led to the incident.

Daily Mirror reported the appointment the same day, describing the panel as an expert body tasked with establishing what caused the craft to run into difficulty. NewsFirst also reported the appointment, and identified the vessel as a Super Dvora Mark III fast attack craft — the first time any newsroom has specified the class.

The salvage operation went ahead on Sunday, with Navy divers deployed to the site. The Navy said rough seas continued to pose a significant challenge to both the search and the recovery work.

Craft recovered, search for missing sailor continues

The Navy successfully recovered the craft on Sunday evening after an operation lasting several hours, Ada Derana reported. Specialist Navy diving teams carried out the recovery, which the Navy said was made difficult by rough seas and strong winds. Arrangements were then made to transport the vessel to the Colombo Harbour.

Search operations for the missing sailor continued throughout the day and had not concluded when the craft was brought up.

Accounts of the vessel’s condition still differ. Ada Derana described it as “damaged”; NewsFirst called it “wrecked” and headlined its report a capsizing; Daily Mirror went furthest, referring to the “sinking” and to divers working to raise the craft “from the seabed.”

The twelfth crew member remains missing. Search operations were still under way on Sunday as a joint Navy and Air Force effort, with the Mi-17 and Bell 412 helicopters still deployed. The Navy has not announced any change in his status. The eleven personnel rescued on Saturday remain under medical care; the Navy said their condition is not critical.

Update, August 17: missing officer named, search enters third day

Search and rescue operations continued into a third consecutive day on Monday, Ada Derana reported. The missing crew member has been identified as Lieutenant Udayapriya, a resident of Werahera, Boralesgamuwa — the first time any newsroom has named him.

Ada Derana also placed the accident more precisely: about three nautical miles off the Angulana coastline in Moratuwa, at around 11.40 a.m. on August 15, as the craft returned to Colombo after completing a patrol.

Navy Spokesman Commander Chaminda Walakuluge said the 11 rescued personnel are receiving treatment at the Welisara Navy Hospital and that none are in critical condition, Daily Mirror reported. Hiru News had reported on Saturday that eight of them were admitted to Kalubowila Hospital; neither outlet reports a transfer, and the two accounts have not been reconciled.

Was the craft recovered? Accounts diverge

The status of the vessel itself is now contradictory across filings. Ada Derana reported on Sunday evening that the Navy had successfully recovered the craft after an operation lasting several hours. But on Monday, Ada Derana described recovery operations as having commenced on Sunday with rough seas and strong winds making the work challenging, while Daily Mirror reported that salvage preparations were still under way, with the vessel located but yet to be brought to the surface and towed to Colombo Port. No outlet has corrected the earlier account.

Unconfirmed line of inquiry: a submerged wreck

Eyewitnesses reported seeing the craft apparently collide with a submerged object, after which smoke was seen and the vessel sank within minutes, according to Daily Mirror. The exact cause has not been officially confirmed.

Daily Mirror reported that authorities and maritime experts are examining whether the craft struck the MV Thermopylae Sierra, a 155-metre Cyprus-flagged merchant vessel abandoned in local waters off Panadura since 2009 amid pending litigation, which later sank after years of neglect and corrosion. The wreck lies submerged and largely unlit close to the coastline, in the area where the Navy craft was operating.

This remains a line of inquiry, not a finding. The special board of experts appointed by the Commander of the Navy is tasked with determining the cause. The Merchant Shipping Secretariat is the authority legally empowered under the Merchant Shipping Act No. 52 of 1971 to handle maritime wrecks and navigational safety, with its Director General acting as Principal Receiver of Wrecks.

Update, August 18: Navy honours 14 civilians who joined the rescue

The Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Damian Fernando, presented letters of appreciation to 14 civilians from Angulana at the Western Naval Command Headquarters in Colombo on Tuesday, recognising their part in pulling the 11 crew members to safety, Ada Derana reported.

Vice Admiral Fernando described their actions as a significant act of civic responsibility and humanitarian intervention, saying their prompt response during a critical situation had helped ensure the rescue succeeded and offered an example of public solidarity. The Commander of the Western Naval Area, Rear Admiral Jagath Kumara, attended along with senior and junior officers from Navy Headquarters and the Western Naval Command, the Navy said in its own account of the ceremony.

The Navy identified the vessel as Fast Attack Craft P 4447 — the first time a pennant number has been attached to the craft in any filing.

Search enters a fourth day

Search and rescue operations for the missing officer ran into a fourth consecutive day on Tuesday, with naval and air assets still deployed off Angulana, NewsFirst reported. The 11 rescued personnel remain under medical care and are reported to be in stable condition.

NewsFirst also resolved the conflicting accounts of whether the craft was recovered. Navy divers did successfully salvage the vessel after an operation that began in the early hours of August 16, but rough seas over the following days have significantly hampered efforts to tow it, which are still under way. That reconciles Ada Derana’s Sunday report of a successful recovery with Daily Mirror’s Monday account of a craft located but not yet brought to Colombo Port — the two were describing different stages of the same operation.

Wreck theory now traced to the crew

The submerged-wreck line of inquiry has firmed up. NewsFirst reported that preliminary accounts obtained from the rescued personnel themselves indicate the vessel may have come into contact with a submerged wreck before the emergency — the first time the theory has been attributed to the crew rather than to shore-based eyewitnesses or maritime experts. Officials stressed it remains one of several aspects being examined, and the expert panel appointed by the Navy Commander has yet to establish the sequence of events.

NewsFirst also credited officers from the Angulana Police, alongside the local fishing community, with assisting in the rescue.

Sources