Jetliner – Protector in war and peace:

The voyage that made Naval troops victorious

By Ranil WIJAYAPALA

It was a memorable day in June 2008. I was getting ready to board the Jetliner, the biggest troops carrier of the Sri Lanka Navy, which has now become one of the most sought after places for the public and corporate sector to conduct events including weddings.

My journey on board that ship was not to participate in any dinner or fun event, as it happens today, but to observe one of the largest operations launched by the Sri Lanka Navy during the humanitarian operation carried out by the Security Forces from 2006 to 2009.

It was the Jetliner that created a bridge for the Security Forces serving in the Jaffna peninsula with those in the South as more than 80 percent of the transport requirement of the single largest deployment of troops numbering closer to 40,000 in the Jaffna peninsula was facilitated by the Jetliner.

That was besides the hectic operations carried out by the Sri Lanka Navy to create a ‘fence’ around this small island, shielding the terror operation to smuggle arms into the North and the East by various means and also carrying out massive operations beyond the shores of the country in search of floating warehouses of the LTTE.

Therefore, the battle of the Navy in the Security Forces’ march towards defeating the terror outfit in the country was fought in a wider front in the facilitation of the ground troops who engaged in a face-to-face battle with the Tigers in the battlefront.

Among all those operations carried out in a wider front by the Navy, the Jetliner operation was one of the most sensitive as it involved the lives of nearly 3,000 Security Forces personnel at a time amidst the LTTE making use of their best strategies to target the vessel.

So the weekly operation of the Jetliner, carrying nearly 3,000 troops to Kankesanthurai and bringing back another 3,000 to Trincomalee, gave sleepless nights to the officers involved in this operation and also for the three Forces Commanders involved in this operation from the operations rooms in Colombo.

No one wanted to take any risk with regard to the Jetliner operation as a single mistake would lead to a turning point in the war against LTTE terror.

Highest level of secrecy

Secrecy was maintained at its highest level about the operations of the Jetliner and the venue where the ship was docked changed from one place to another in the Trincomalee harbour as regular operations at one place would make it a target of the LTTE.

Therefore, the transportation of troops from the transit camps in Trincomalee also had to be carried out secretively as it would give signals to the enemy about the operation.

For the thousands of soldiers who went on leave after hectic duties in the major battlefront in the Jaffna peninsula, the Jetliner became a saviour as it was a nightmare for them to board on a flight from the Palaly airport with the restricted number of flights and the huge demand for seats.

So the journey on board the Jetliner, with the crew of more than 100 Navy personnel and another 3,000 security Forces personnel, a majority of them from the Sri Lanka Army, was a memorable occasion in my journalistic career in the battlefront in the North and the East since it was not just a sea journey, but an amazing opportunity to observe one of the challenging sea voyages undertaken by a Navy fighting the most ruthless terror outfit in the world.

It was the biggest operation carried out by the Navy and all sectors had to be on duty to make it a success. The three Forces Commanders, Commanders of the Eastern and Northern Naval Areas, the Dvora Squadron and Air Force helicopters had to be on duty to make that operation a success, as quick action was needed to react to any eventuality they faced during the voyage. A flotilla of Dvoras had to give close protection to the ship while intelligence operations had to be carried out to monitor the LTTE communications, to check whether there were any possible attempts by them to attack the vessel.

Sri Lanka Air Force helicopters had to be on vigil, following the route of the Jetliner, to observe any strange objects or suspicious movements in the sea during the voyage of the Jetliner from Trincomalee to Kankesanthurai.

Desperation

The desperation of the LTTE to target the Jetliner was displayed after the recovery of explosive-laden boats positioned at several locations along the coastal line in the north of Mullaitivu and the unearthed torpedoes from locations close to Visuamadu on a tip-off given by surrendered LTTE cadre.

If any of those attempts by the LTTE had been successful, the celebrations today over the defeat of the LTTE would have been a distant dream for us.

However, the Sri Lanka Navy with the support of the Army and the Air Force, made all those attempts impossible for the LTTE and even foiled all attempts by the LTTE to sink this troop carrier along with the troops. They had to sail far from land to avoid such attempts by the LTTE, thus creating a conducive environment to observe any suspicious movements of the LTTE towards the ship.

Though things happened secretly at the Trincomalee harbour, the arrival of the Jetliner at the Kankesatnurai harbour could be observed by any outsider after the ship passes Point Pedro on the eastern tip of the Jaffna peninsula.

So mechanisms were put in place to have the fastest loading and unloading process, to unload the 3,000 troops and logistics and load another set of 3,000 troops along with their logistics while supplying fuel for the vessel.

It was amazing that the process took only 30 minutes.

It was also a very sensitive process as it was a place where more than 6,000 Security Forces personnel gathered at one small location. Therefore, at the height of the battles, the movement of the artillery batteries of the LTTE had to be closely monitored during this period as they had the KKS harbour within their artillery range.

So the operation of the Jetliner by the Sri Lanka Navy made things happen in the Jaffna peninusla even at a time when all air operations to the peninsula was impossible, while facing the biggest challenge posed by the most effective sea wing of the LTTE armed with suicide squadrons.

It was after the liberation of the entire Jaffna -Kandy A-9 road in mid January 2009 that the Sri Lanka Navy breathed a sigh of relief as all battlefronts in the North were made accessible through ground. They continued with this huge task until the A-9 road was made safer for troop transportation after ground troops carried out operations further towards the east of the A-9 road.

Troop transportation

The operation of the Jetliner through the transportation of troops to and from the Jaffna peninsula till the end of the humanitarian operation made the biggest contribution to the war against terrorism on the part of the Sri Lanka Navy, on par with their contribution to the same after destroying eight LTTE arms smuggling vessels from 2006 to 2008.

Today, as one of the victorious navies in the world, the Sri Lanka Navy sets examples to other navies sharing the knowledge they absorbed by facing swarms of Black Tigers in flotilla of small boats through the introduction of similar small fast attack craft through the Special Boat Squadron and Rapid Action Boat Squadron at the height of the battle, thus making the LTTE think twice before they launched any attack.

Therefore, the contribution made by the Sri Lanka Navy in the process of defeating the LTTE, the only terror outfit armed with its own sea-going wing, has not only contributed to creating a terror-free sea territory around Sri Lanka, but also led towards international maritime security by making their contribution to eliminate a terror outfit that would have become a challenge for the entire global maritime security network.

That is why all Sri Lankans today love to board a ship like the Jetliner to mark the most important days in their lives as it is a symbol of safety and security; it performed its role at the height of battle by ensuring the safety of thousands of troops personnel.

So, it has become the symbol of protection both in war and peacetime in Sri Lanka, thus symbolising the great contribution of the Sri Lanka Navy to make Mother Sri Lanka victorious in its battle against terrorism.

Today, when we mark the third anniversary of that great victory that freed Sri Lanka from terrorism, we should salute all those officers and sailors of the Sri Lanka Navy who made that great victory possible through their supreme sacrifices.