By Rathindra Kuruwita

The government will have to spend about USD 40 million to upgrade the offshore patrol vessel to be sent to the Red Sea to take part in operations against the Houthi rebels, Y.N. Jayarathna, retired Rear Admiral and hydrographer, said in a televised interview this week.

The Sri Lanka Navy would be able to operate in the Red Sea if the government was willing to spend necessary funds for upgrading the ships and bear operational costs, Jayarathna said.

“We need to use offshore patrol vessels. We have these ships. During the last phase of the war, Sri Lanka decided to go after the LTTE’s floating armouries, which were almost on the South of the Equator. We sent a taskforce under Commodore Travis Sinnaiah,” he said.

Jayarathna added that the Navy had operated on the high seas to curb drug smuggling from Iran via the Arabian Sea.

When a journalist asked whether it would serve Lanka’s national interest to send ships to the Red Sea to fight someone else’s war, Jayarathna said that by sending a ship to the Red Sea, Sri Lanka was fulfilling international obligations in safeguarding sea lines of communication.

“The government has to word our mission there carefully. It will be disadvantageous if others believe we are fighting someone else’s war. We must come off as a regional Navy with the capacity to contribute to coalition patrols,” he said.

Jayarathna said Sri Lanka would have to invest in the ships to make them able to operate in the Red Sea.

“The Head of State wants the SLN to operate in the Red Sea, but does the government want to spend money? There will be operational costs, and there will be maintenance costs. The cost of diesel, alone for an offshore patrol vessel for a one-month patrol, comes to about Rs 60 million. There is a huge cost, and the government has to be ready for it,” Jayaratne said.

The retired Rear Admiral said Navies could not be built overnight and that they had to be maintained. “We have the vessels, but do we have the necessary technology? There is a lot more to be done before we are able to send the ships. We need some new equipment. We need to replace some of our obsolete equipment.”

The Sri Lankan Navy needed detection and stabilisation equipment, he said. If Sri Lanka wanted to buy the equipment quickly, it will have to pay crisis purchase prices, Jayaratne said.

“So, about USD 35 to 40 million will be needed. If the government wants naval ships to be there, the government should pay.”

The Sri Lankan Navy will not be operational in the high-intensity combat zone. But even at the periphery, Houthi rebels are using cruise and ballistic missiles.

“In the power politics of the Indian Ocean, the US and its allies want us to be in their camp. The Chinese want us to be in their camps. It seems that we are siding with the US and its allies. We can’t make decisions on impulse. The decisions we make here have repercussions. So, political masters must make wise decisions. These are not decisions that a single person is taking. A body of people must make these decisions. We don’t know what went on behind the scenes,” he said.

The volume of transshipment cargo that the Colombo Port received had gone up because ships are taking the long sea route to avoid the Red Sea, he said.

Jayarathna said that Sri Lanka should go and operate on the Northern part of the Arabian Sea, which is a main route for drugs that come here.

“This means we don’t even have to be on the periphery of the conflict area. We will be in the vicinity. This is a good opportunity for us to be there and operate for our national interest while protecting the sea lines of communications,” Jayaratne said.