The Sri Lanka Navy has denied reports on social media and some media outlets regarding alleged illegal sand mining in the seas off the coast of Batticaloa by a ship anchored there.
Batticaloa District MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam in a Twitter post recently questioned authorities regarding the presence of barge that had anchored off the coast of Batticaloa.
The explanation given by the Navy is as follows:
The Tug and Barge, the source of these false reports, were transporting limestone from the United Arab Emirates to the port of Chittagong, Bangladesh. On the way to the destination, the tugboat was scheduled to arrive at the Trincomalee Harbor to replenish supplies, including fuel.
However, due to the inability of the tugboat to reach the Trincomalee harbor to meet the supply requirements including fuel on the planned day due to the rough seas, its crew has taken steps to anchor the tugboat carrying the barge in the seas off the east coast of Sri Lanka near Batticaloa areas on 15 December 2021.
Accordingly, the patrolling Sri Lanka Navy ships observed the tugboat and the barge and alerted the Naval Headquarters through the Eastern Naval Command.
Further investigations carried out on the instructions of the Navy Headquarters revealed that the tugboat with a length of 31 meters was NAVIMAR 3 (IMO No.9526045) owned by a Singaporean company.
It was further revealed that the vessel being towed by the tug was a 97 meter long barge called AM MERMAID and that a local agency had come forward to replenish its supplies at the Trincomalee Port.
Accordingly, the tugboat was anchored for several days until the fuel needed to reach the Trincomalee port was procured through a local supplier.
During that entire period, the Eastern Naval Command continued to monitor the tugboat and crew using radar observation stations and patrol vessels. Also the Naval Headquarters briefed the Director General of Merchant Ships and other authorities in this regard.
Accordingly, after supplying the required fuel to reach the port of Trincomalee using a supply vessel by the local agency of the tug on 22nd December 2021, the tugboat and the barge arrived at the Port of Trincomalee on December 24, 2021.
The tugboat and barge are currently anchored in the Trincomalee Outer Harbor and will return to their destination Bangladesh on the evening of December 25, 2021 or the morning of December 26, 2021, after completing the supply requirements, including fuel.
The Navy emphasized that the tugboat is a normal tugboat used to tow large barges and it doesn’t have the capacity to carry out any mining or excavations on the seabed.
The Navy also urged the public not to be misled by such misinformation.
Courtesy: Colombo Page
