Navy Commander Vice Admiral NishanthaUlugetenne acknowledged the huge support provided by the Indian Coast Guard vessels when he received the Captains of the vessels today. A Press release issued by the Indian High Commission said
The Commander specially thanked India for its prompt response to the incident involving the MV XPress Pearl. It said.
The Indian Coast Guard vessels which were deployed in operation arrived at the Colombo Port for operational turn around.
The two Captains briefed the Navy Commander about their role in the Operation particularly about Samudra Prahari, which is a specialized pollution response vessel.
High Commissioner of India Gopal Baglay, who joined on the occasion, thanked the Commander and Sri Lanka Navy for extending whole-hearted cooperation to the Indian vessels throughout the Operation.
He conveyed that it was not merely the geography that bound India and Sri Lanka in the maritime sphere, but the tradition of close cooperation in responding to emergencies such as HADR and accidents at sea as evidenced in Operaration Sagar Araksha I & II. He underlined that bilateral mechanisms to appropriately respond to emergency situations in the shared maritime space is the need of the hour. The Press release added.
The Indian Coast Guard vessels were deployed since 25 May, hours after receiving a request for assistance from Sri Lanka Navy to douse the fire onboard MV XPress Pearl and also provided pollution control help.
