Sri Lankan authorities deployed naval and air forces to rescue Iranian sailors after their ship, the IRIS Dena, sent out a distress signal near the island.

Vijitha Herath, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, told parliament that the distress call came at dawn. The vessel was carrying 180 people, The Caspian Post reports via foreign media.

Thirty injured sailors were transported to a hospital in the Sri Lankan port of Galle. The cause of the sinking remains unknown.

An opposition lawmaker raised questions about whether the ship might have been targeted amid U.S. and Israeli operations against Iran, but authorities did not provide an official response.