The Navy has generated USD 598,250 in foreign exchange revenue within four months by independently facilitating Onboard Security Team (OBST) operations, with the full amount credited to the Government’s Consolidated Fund, the Navy said.

Issuing a statement, the Navy said that between 3 October, 2025, and 8 February, 2026, it conducted 323 maritime security operations under the new independent framework. All earnings from these operations, totalling USD 598,250, were remitted directly to the Consolidated Fund for the benefit of the national economy and public welfare.

Details of the initiative were disclosed at a press briefing held at the Department of Government Information last Wednesday (11), chaired by the Navy’s Director General Operations.

The shift to independent maritime security operations followed a Cabinet decision approved on 7 July, 2025, based on a proposal submitted on 18 June, 2025, aimed at strengthening national security while enhancing domestic economic gains.

A further legal framework was established when the President, in terms of Section 21(1) of the Navy Act, issued a Presidential Order on 10 August, 2025, designating the Navy’s maritime security operations project — providing services to Foreign Private Maritime Security Companies (PMSCs) — as a “non-naval duty” in the national interest. The Order was subsequently published in Extraordinary Gazette No. 2449/27 on 13 August, 2025.

Pursuant to this mandate, the Navy commenced independent maritime security operations on 3 October, 2025, by entering into agreements with foreign PMSCs. The operations include the storage of firearms, ammunition and related equipment for OBSTs at Navy armouries under the strict supervision of the Ministry of Defence. Transportation of such items is carried out using vehicles, or craft, provided by local agents of foreign PMSCs, under direct security oversight and planning by the Navy.

The Navy noted that it already possesses much of the required physical and human resources to conduct maritime security activities independently, enabling a potential expansion of such services with minimal additional cost.

The service has its origins in arrangements, initiated around 10 September, 2009, when the Navy began storing arms, ammunition and equipment for Sea Marshals deployed on board merchant vessels. At the time, operations were conducted with private entities under advisory arrangements, with only a small fee paid to the Navy and a limited share of total revenue remitted to the Government.

Under the current independent framework, however, the entirety of the revenue generated is channelled directly to the Consolidated Fund, strengthening state finances and supporting public welfare initiatives.

… calls for resignation of Public Security Minister

The UNP has urged the Attorney General, who is the head of the Official Bar, to ensure the appointment of a suitable police team to investigate last Friday’s killing of Attorney-at-Law Buddhika Mallawaarachchi and his wife at Akuregoda. The UNP, in a statement issued yesterday (16), emphasised that the consent of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka must also be obtained.

The UNP said that the killing posed a serious threat to the integrity of Asia’s oldest Western-based legal system.

Referring to international precedents, the UNP stated that the killing of lawyers and constant death threats in the American continent had resulted in the closing of 70% of law offices in one district in Mexico.

It further recalled that a prosecutor in Ecuador and the President of the Port-au-Prince Bar Association in Haiti had been assassinated.

In addition, many lawyers, representing cartel leaders, have come under threat. Similarly, lawyers in British Columbia have been threatened with serious physical harm, and the Law Society of British Columbia recently issued notices advising members to seek police assistance if threats are made, it said.

The UNP has observed that in Sri Lanka these killings took place against a background of the Inspector General of Police taking a partisan stance against lawyers in a dispute between a lawyer and a policeman prior to the completion of the inquiry. In this instance, within two hours of the incident, the police, without an inquiry, stated that the shooting had been carried out by an organised criminal, the UNP has said, noting that this raises questions about the ability or willingness of the police to carry out investigations.

The UNP has said:

1. Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs Ananda Wijepala, who is responsible for the deterioration of law and order, including these killings, must resign.

2. The Attorney General, as the head of the Official Bar, in discussion with the Inspector General of Police, must ensure the appointment of a suitable Police team to investigate this matter. The consent of the Sri Lanka Bar Association must also be obtained.

3. The government must take administrative and if necessary legislative measures to give effect to Article 9.4 of Luxemburg Convention – Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of the Lawyers Article 9.4. The Commonwealth Association on 09 January 2026 has also endorsed this Convention stating “if the lawyer is not protected then no one is protected”.

The UNP has said it stands in solidarity with the legal community and support efforts to ensure adequate protection for lawyers.

Sri Lanka has sought Saudi Arabian assistance to introduce advanced radar technologies capable of detecting aerial threats as well as drone capabilities to enhance aerial surveillance, the Defence Ministry said yesterday.

Sri Lanka had also raised the possibility of upgrading surveillance systems onboard SLN vessels, the Ministry said. Discussions on these matters were held when Deputy Defence Minister Maj. General Aruna Jayasekera recently met Vice Admiral Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, Commander of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces in Riyadh on the sidelines of the World Defence Show.