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Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa yesterday thanked the Indian government for facilitating the acquisition of an off shore patrol vessel for the Sri Lanka Navy and said the goodwill gesture would strengthen bilateral relations and better cooperation between the two neighbouring countries.
SLNS ‘Sayurala’ was commissioned at the Sri Lanka Navy Dockyard in Trincomalee yesterday.
The former Indian Coast Guard Ship ‘Vigraha’ joined the Sri Lanka Navy fleet on August 23 last year and was assigned Pennant Number P 623. The OPV was built by Mazagon Dockyard Ltd, of Mumbai in India in 1990. With a length of 74.10m and a width of 11.40m, it has the maximum speed of 21.5 knots and a maximum draught of 3.58. The net registered tonnage is 750 tonnes and Gross registered tonnage is 1247 tonnes. The vessel is equipped with Marine Surveillance Radar and Communication equipment for the assigned role in Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
The Defence Secretary handed over the Commissioning Warrant to the Commanding Officer of the Vessel Captain SA Weerasinghe and in his message praised the effort and dedication shown by the Sri Lanka Navy in protecting the territorial integrity, sovereignty and unity of the motherland.
Meanwhile, addressing a meeting of sailors and officers at the Trincomalee base, Mr. Rajapaksa said action had been taken to set up a series of new navy camps around the coastal belt to protect the coastal belt of Sri Lanka.
“We are an island nation, so we have to consider tightening sea security to prevent any outside threat, mainly the smuggling of arms and ammunition into the country,” Mr. Rajapaksa said.
He said although the war was over, the Navy had a key role to play to protect the country and it did so valiantly during last phase of the war.
“The Arrow boats of the navy were the main reason the LTTE couldn’t do anything at the time. The arrested LTTE leaders have revealed that because of this blockade they were unable to smuggle arms to the LTTE or even escape from the country,” he said.
Mr. Rajapaksa revealed there were several requests from powerful nations to share with them our naval officers’ experience.