President Maithripala Sirisena commissioned the Sri Lanka Navy’s first Advanced Offshore Patrol Vessel (AOPV) ‘Sayurala’ , at the Eastern Container Terminal, port of Colombo today (August, 02).

The Advanced Offshore Patrol Vessel was built at the Indian shipbuilding facility, Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL) and it is the first ever brand new platform, purchased from a foreign ship builder, tailored for specific requirements of the Sri Lanka Navy.

It also holds the record for the largest vessel built by an Indian shipbuilder for a foreign navy to date. The brand new state of the art AOPV arrived at the port of Colombo on 28th July.

The Vessel is expected to conduct patrols, policing, reconnaissance, surveillance, search and rescue, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) and pollution control missions in Sri Lanka's maritime zones. Moreover, it can also be used for external fire-fighting missions.

Built to the standards of Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) and the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), Sayurala features a range of modern facilities and advanced technological instrument. The length and the width of the ship are measured to be 105.7m and 13.6m respectively. The new platform which has a draught (hull) of 5m is capable of achieving the maximum speed of 26 knots and cruising speed of 12-14 knots. It has a displacement of 2,350 tons.

Upon the arrival of the President at the Eastern Container Terminal, he was received by the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy, Vice Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne, he was also accorded with a guard of honour in accordance with naval formalities.

Subsequently, the President presented the commissioning warrant to Commanding Officer of the ship, Captain (N) Nishantha Amarosa.

Afterwards, the President, together with the Commander of the Navy, got on board ship and unveiled the ship’s crest and name board amidst the blessings of religious dignitaries, to designate the new AOPV as Sri Lanka Navy Ship (SLNS) Sayurala. The President also went on to inspect the facilities and he was briefed on the advanced technological instruments of the ship by the Commander of the Navy.

Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, State Minister Ruwan Wijewardene, Defence Production Secretary of India A.K. Gupta, High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy, Vice Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne, Indian Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Southern Naval Command Vice Admiral A.R. Karve and were present at the event.