Sick sailors from Iranian oil tankers near Sri Lanka have been brought ashore for medical care. The tankers are anchored outside Sri Lankan waters, near the port of Galle, in the south of the island.
Sri Lanka's Ministry of Foreign Affairs organised the transfer. "We have coordinated the transfer and carried out our humanitarian obligations," ministry spokesman Thushara Rodrigo told the news agency AFP. He said the Iranian embassy paid the costs.
What happened
The Sri Lankan newspaper Daily Mirror quoted the police office for the Southern Province. It said 27 crew members became ill on the tankers. They were brought ashore on the afternoon of Saturday, 24 October 2026.
The Sri Lanka Navy used two boats to take them from the ships to Galle port. From there, they went to a private hospital in Colombo, the capital, for more treatment.
On Sunday, 25 October, AFP reported a higher number. It said officials put the number at at least 40 sailors brought ashore over the weekend. The reports do not say what illness the sailors have. They do not say how serious it is.
Why the ships are stuck
The tankers are under US sanctions. Sanctions are rules that block trade or payments with certain countries, companies or ships. AFP says Iranian tankers and other merchant ships cannot go back to their home port because of a US blockade.
Nearly a dozen empty Iranian tankers are anchored near Galle harbour, AFP says. Sri Lanka says they are in international waters, more than 12 nautical miles from the coast. One nautical mile is 1.852 kilometres. The Sri Lankan military watches the ships with aircraft and patrol boats.
AFP also says many Iranian merchant ships have moved east, towards the Strait of Malacca and Singapore.
What crews should know
Long waits at anchor are hard for crews. Food, fresh water, medicine and crew changes can all become a problem. These points can help if you or a crewmate gets ill on board:
Under the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), the main international law on seafarers' rights, the shipowner must give you medical care on board. Port states must also let seafarers who need urgent care reach medical help ashore.
Tell the master early if you feel ill. The master can get free medical advice by radio, phone or email from a shore doctor. This is called a Telemedical Assistance Service (TMAS).
Write down your symptoms, the dates and any medicine you take. This helps the doctor on shore.
If you cannot get help on board, you can contact SeafarerHelp. It is a free, private helpline that works 24 hours a day, in many languages. You can also contact the ITF, the International Transport Workers' Federation.
We will update this story if officials give more details about the sailors' health.
Cover photo: The crude oil tanker Rich Duke II at anchor in the Little Belt near Fredericia, Denmark, July 2013. Illustrative photo, not one of the ships in this story. Photo: Ajepbah/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE (cropped).
Sources: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka): 27 crew members fall ill aboard Iranian tankers off Galle (25 Oct 2026), AFP via The Straits Times: Stranded Iranian sailors seek medical treatment in Sri Lanka (25 Oct 2026), AFP via Gulf News: Iranian sailors seek urgent medical help as tankers remain stranded off Sri Lanka (25 Oct 2026), ILO: Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC), Regulation 4.1 on medical care on board and ashore, ISWAN SeafarerHelp: free 24-hour helpline for seafarers.
