Galle

Galle is Sri Lanka’s southernmost major port, a UNESCO World Heritage city on the island’s southwestern tip, roughly 120 km south of Colombo. Fortified by the Dutch in 1663, Galle Fort remains one of the best-preserved colonial fortifications in Asia, and the natural deep-water harbour has served Indian Ocean trade routes for centuries.

Galle sits at the centre of two unprecedented Iranian naval incidents in Sri Lanka. On 18 March 2026, IRIS Dena sank approximately 40 nautical miles south of the city, the first Iranian warship lost in action since 1988. Sri Lanka launched a rescue operation and recovered 32 critically wounded sailors . A second vessel, IRIS Bushehr, then approached reporting engine trouble and was refused port access .

Sri Lanka formally interned IRIS Bushehr and its 208-strong crew under the 1907 Hague Conventions, holding Colombo in an extraordinary diplomatic position for the conflict’s duration . The city’s position astride major shipping lanes transforms a heritage tourism drawcard into a flashpoint in a live naval war.