Sri Lanka strengthens navy to deter overseas threats
Sept 05, 2009 (LBO) - Sri Lanka`s navy commissioned 90 officers and an offshore patrol vessel last weekend as it continues to expand, having defeated the powerful Tamil Tiger naval wing.
Senior defence officials said the navy`s future focus will be on protecting the island`s ocean resources and patrolling the surrounding seas to ensure terrorism, which was sustained by overseas supplies, does not recur.

Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, a former army officer who now heads the defence establishment, says there are indications Tamil rebels, defeated by government forces in May, are trying to revive their campaign for a separate state.

Rebel remnants who survived the military campaign and their supporters overseas still pose a threat, he said in a speech to navy troops at their main base in the eastern Trincomalee harbour.

`In future we must not allow them to raise their heads again. We must protect the gains of our victory over terrorism,` Rajapaksa said.

`Terrorists need to smuggle arms from abroad and train fighters overseas and infiltrate them into the island.`

Rajapaksa said the navy now has a big role to play to protect the seas around the island and its coastline to prevent arms smuggling that enabled the Tigers to drag on their campaign for almost 30 years.

`Especially in an island nation like ours, the navy has an important role to play,` he said. `It is vital to protect our seas and our coastline to prevent arms smuggling and infiltration by terrorists trained overseas.`

Among the 90 officers commissioned recently were female officers who might in future be also deployed aboard navy craft as the fleet expands and it gets bigger vessels for patrols in the deep sea.

Sri Lanka`s navy was for long known as a constabulary force, with only light craft for coastal patrols.

But as the war escalated and the threat grew from Tamil Sea Tiger rebels, the navy not only expanded its fleet of fast attack craft for coastal patrols but also acquired bigger vessels for offshore patrols.

One such vessel was the SLNS Sayurala, a 1,160-tonnes ship with a crew of 124 and an endurance of about two weeks, which was commissioned at the weekend.

SLNS Sayurala is the third of the offshore patrol ships acquired from India and one of four in the fleet that all have helipads on the stern deck capable of hosting light helicopters.

The offshore patrol vessels headed naval task forces that sailed deep into the Indian Ocean to chase and sink rebel arms supply vessels from which the Tigers used to bring ashore stocks from time to time.

The loss of the rebel `floating warehouses` as they were called seriously eroded the Tigers` fighting ability and has been described as the navy`s biggest contribution to defeating the rebels.

The navy`s new commander Vice Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe has said he wants to revive plans for a naval air wing in collaboration with the air force.

Deploying aircraft from naval platforms would improve surveillance capabilities especially in patrolling the exclusive economic zone where poaching is a growing problem.

Samarasinghe said the navy would continue to expand and modernise its fleet of over 100 vessels of different types with bigger warships to prevent future terrorist threats and protect the island`s maritime interests.

`You will have to remain at sea for 15 or 20 days, out of sight of land, not on a stable platform,` he said in a speech at the passing out parade of 90 officers.

Samarasinghe has said that it was because of inadequate surveillance that the Tamil Tigers were able to smuggle in arms and drag on the war for so long.