Navy seizes Captain Ali

The Sri Lanka Navy which was on high alert to detect the British ship which set-off for Sri Lanka in mid March, spotted the suspicious merchant vessel Captain Ali in the western seas 150 km off Panadura in the early hours of yesterday, Navy Spokesman Captain D.K.P. Dassanayaka said.

Captain Dassanayaka told the Daily News the vessel MV Captain Ali, captained by a former SLMM member was detected by the Navy in the sea off Panadura around 4 am yesterday and was being taken to Panadura for further investigations.

The Navy spokesman said though it was the ship Vanangaman that sailed from Britain in mid March carrying food and medical aid for the people in Vanni, the goods in the ship were later unloaded into MV Captain Ali in France.

"We were on alert to detect this ship and the Navy was able to do so yesterday in the sea off Panadura," the spokesman added. According to initial reports, the ship was carrying over 2,000 metric tonnes of food and medical aid for civilians, collected by British politicians and celebrities, various British Tamil charities and UK based organization 'Act Now'.

"We will search the ship once it is taken to Panadura," Captain Dassanayaka added.