Navy Spokesperson Captain Akram Alavi speaking to Ceylon Today noted that since the operations were taken over from Avant Garde Maritime Services Ltd., i.e. on 13 November 2015, the Sri Lanka Navy was able to earn Rs 2.33 billion for the Government of Sri Lanka to date.
As a result, during the year of operations, the Navy had earned an income of Rs 2.33 billion for a total of 6,646 ship movements. Captian Alavi noted that Galle and Colombo operation centres have carried out 6,150 and 496 movements, respectively. An average of approximately 554 moves had been covered per month.
The earnings generated through OBST operations are directly deposited in the Consolidated Fund of the Sri Lanka Government, said Captain Alavi.
With the annulment of the previous agreement, Sri Lanka Navy was entrusted the task of providing security to merchant vessels and supplying services to Security Firms involved in providing onboard security for merchant ships. The Navy took over these duties following a special directive issued by President Maithripala Sirisena.
Since taking over the duties, naval personnel have been involved in providing services to merchant ships carrying mainly weapons and ammunitions. Since taking over these tasks, the Navy ensured that the security requirements of the merchant vessels which are frequenting the High Risk Area (HRA) are provided services efficiently by the naval personnel at Galle and Colombo harbours.
The Galle and Colombo operation centres look after the receiving, holding and issuing of weapons, ammunitions and other related equipment belonging to foreign as well as local On Board Security Teams.
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