Sri Lanka Navy's Diamond Jubilee celebrations:

Immense contribution to defeat terrorism

Special Correspondent

Having rendered a distinguished service spanning six decades to the nation, the Sri Lanka Navy proudly celebrates its 60th anniversary on December 9, 2010 marking yet another milestone in the country's history. First part of this article was published yesterday

Although during the final battle, the Sea Tigers desperately attempted to disrupt the sea lines of communications between the Jaffna peninsula and Trincomalee, the Navy made an immense contribution to the humanitarian operation by keeping the ship movement centering the Trincomalee harbour uninterrupted having thwarted the suicide attacks of the terrorists.

Captain J R S Brown

Commodore P M B Chavasse

The Navy fulfilled a tremendous task by transporting supplies to the tri-forces and Police personnel engaged in operational duties in the North onboard the SLN and merchant ships under Naval escort. The Navy constantly safeguarded the lifeblood of the innocent civilians in the North by transporting service personnel and innocent civilians between the North and Trincomalee safely thwarting suicide attacks of the Sea Tigers and providing security to the islands in the North. Having saved the Kankasanthurei harbour from the terrorist attacks and natural disasters, four new jetties were constructed on the Northern coast utilizing the Navy's expertise and manpower giving a tremendous boost to the humanitarian operation.

The contribution made by all branches of the Navy to its noble service that spans over 60 years is tremendous and the collective effort enabled the Navy to fulfill its role for the Motherland efficiently.

The rapid development of the technology in the Navy enabled it to increase its fighting power. Due to the contribution of the Navy's technical branches, it acquired the technical equipment capable of making surveillance of the entire coastal belt as well as high seas spanning over hundreds of nautical miles and state of the art weapons integrated with sophisticated electro-optic cameras.

Rear Admiral G R M De Mel

Rear Admiral R Kadiragamar

Rear Admiral D V Hunter

With the addition of its own harbour protection methodologies to counter terror attacks on harbours, it was due to the ingenuity of the Naval engineers that the Navy was able to gain the confidence to fight sailing thousands of kilometres in the deep seas and to make the historic feat of producing its own small boats.

Naval and Maritime Academy

The Naval and Maritime Academy in Trincomalee and Naval Recruit Training Centres gradually established islandwide have made tremendous contributions to make Naval cadet officers and recruits well-imbibed in discipline and professionalism to render the noble service of safeguarding the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the Motherland.

The entitlement of the Naval cadet officers, who pass out from the Naval and Maritime Academy, to degrees in Naval studies in affiliation to Kelaniya University and the award of the International Standards Organization certification ISO 9001 and 2000 to the Naval and Maritime Academy as the first military establishment to receive such honours bear ample testimony to the quality of the Naval training.

The contribution made by the Navy Seva Vanitha Unit through its continuous commitment to the welfare of the families of the heroic Naval personnel provides strength and encouragement to the Navy's forward march.

Over its 60 years, Sri Lanka Navy has been able to win many accolades in the sports arena. Winning of the FA Cup Football Championship for the first time and the runner-up title in the prestigious Clifford's Cup in 2010 and becoming the most popular rugby team of the year led by the most popular rugby captain of the year Sub Lieutenant Yoshitha Rajapaksa are some of the land mark achievements of the Navy.

Past Navy Commanders

We remember the past Navy Commanders, who steered the Navy having surmounted the sea of unending challenges, with deep gratitude.

With the commitment never to allow the terrorism to raise its ugly head in the land of Sri Lanka again, Sri Lanka Navy is today proudly engaged in performing a wide range of formidable tasks for the country's future with its utmost dedication.

It is no secret that the future of our country rests on the tremendous resources found in the coastal belt, that is one third of our land mass, the Exclusive Economic Zone, which is seven times greater than our land mass and the continental shelf, that is 21 times greater than our land mass. The Navy is committed to protect the country's vast oceanic resources from the intruders. Sri Lanka Navy is constantly engaged in protecting the resources in the coastal areas and the seabed for the future generations with utmost commitment.

Since the fishing resources figure more prominent amongst the natural resources in the seas, the Navy performs a formidable task by preventing illegal fishing and protecting the fisheries industry.

Fishing community

The Navy acts constantly to prevent the illegal activities carried out at sea in the guise of fishing such as smuggling, drug trafficking and illegal immigration.

With the lifting of restrictions after the dawn of peace to fishing, fishing grounds, fishing vessels and capacity of boat engines imposed due to security reasons, the fishing community has now been able to engage in their livelihoods 24 hours a day with freedom.

In this promising backdrop, the Navy is performing a tremendous task for the utilization of the contributions of the fisheries industry for the national economy and development through the uplift of the professional welfare of the fishermen.

The Commander of the Navy, visiting various areas in the island accompanied by senior Naval officers, met with the representatives and members of fisheries societies and held discussions with a view to uplift their professional welfare. The Navy maintains a close rapport with the fishing community through the fishing marshalling points established at the fisheries harbours and other areas of the island.

While helping to uplift the professional welfare of the fishing community, the Navy is constantly assisting to rescue to the fishermen in distress at sea. The Navy also assists in the repatriation of fishermen and their boats, released from Indian custody through the mediation of the Government and the Ministry of Fisheries and bringing them home safely after having them taken over from Indian Coast Guard vessels at the Indo-Lanka Maritime Boundary line upon the completion of formalities.

National disasters

During the national disasters such as floods and cyclones, the Navy conducts humanitarian assistance operations for the people affected.

It is no secret that the Navy is going to be entrusted with a very important responsibility with the construction of the new harbour in Hambantota.

In order to reap the full benefit of the Hambantota harbour, which lies on a very important position in the international shipping lane that links the East and the West, its international sea line of communication must be made secure.

The Sri Lanka Navy is engaged in fulfilling its international responsibility by protecting this sea line of communication and assisting the ships. The solid foundation in this connection has been laid through the Search and Rescue Area, which is 25 times greater than our landmass, entrusted to the Navy.

National development

The resources and manpower used by the Sri Lanka Navy for the battle victory have now been diverted to the national development after the dawn of peace.

To be continued