Iranian Navy's Training Ships Seek Refuge From War, With Cadets Aboard
The two Iranian naval vessels given refuge in foreign ports this week, IRINS Bushehr (K422) in Kochi, India and IRINS Lavan (L514) in Sri Lanka, were on a training cruise for naval cadets from the Iranian Navy’s Naval Academy at Nowshahr, formally known as the Iman Khomeini University for Naval Science. This explains why both ships had unusually large crews.
The six-week winter training cruise for naval cadets was an annual event. The training cruise in 2025 was conducted by IRINS Bushehr and IRINS Lavan, making up the 100th Flotilla. Last year’s flotilla made port calls in Mumbai and at Colombo, receiving a warm welcome from the host navies in both ports. Cadets were also given a taste of service in an operational area, as the flotilla also spent some time in the Gulf of Aden. While Mumbai and Colombo are regular ports of call for the winter training cruise, in some years both Muscat and Karachi have been visited.
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Both ships are very old: the fleet supply ship IRINS Bushehr was built in Germany in 1974 and the landing ship IRINS Lavan at Yarrow in Glasgow in 1985. IRINS Lavan and her sister ship IRINS Tunb (L513) have both been used in the past during exercises as drone-firing platforms. From pictures of the ships alongside in Colombo last year, both appear to be heavily rusted and IRINS Lavan in particular looked of doubtful seaworthiness. Hence the request from IRINS Bushehr to dock in India because of mechanical issues is credible.
In accordance with the internationally-recognized Law of Naval Warfare, warships of a belligerent nation calling at a neutral port may remain only for 24 hours and under strict conditions; crews and ships which breach these conditions are subject to internment until the cessation of hostilities.
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