Vice Admiral Jayanath Colombage assumes duties as the 18th Commander:

Navy’s top priority to make Sri Lanka a maritime hub

by Ranil WIJAYAPALA

Sri Lanka Navy on Thursday had its third commander in the post conflict Navy when Vice Admiral Colombage, a naval officer with an excellent performance record during his naval career both in operational and management positions in the Sri Lanka Navy took office as the 18th commander of the Sri Lanka Navy.

A simple ceremony held at the Navy Headquarters in Colombo marked both the departure of the former Navy Commander Admiral Somathilaka Dissanayake, the third officer to be promoted to the rank of Admiral in Sri Lanka Navy and the assuming duties by Vice Admiral Jayanath Colombage.

A Naval officer from the 7th intake of the Sri Lanka Navy and who completed his basic naval training at the Naval and Maritime Academy in Trincomalee after winning the ‘Sword of Honour’ for the Best Officer Cadet, Vice Admiral Jayanath Colombage identifies the contribution of the Navy for making Sri Lanka a maritime hub in Asia in its march towards becoming the ‘wonder of Asia’ as the major task before the Navy.

“In the effort of making Sri Lanka a maritime hub Navy will have to play a major role and my aim is to prepare the Sri Lanka Navy for that task”, Vice Admiral Colombage told the media immediately after assuming duties at the Navy Headquarters on Thursday.

He said that at the present context Sri Lanka Navy is the most experienced Navy in sea battles the world and added that steps should be taken to preserve that knowledge for the future generations too.

“During the war Sri Lanka Navy acted as a fence around the country and that precious experience and knowledge should be passed to the present generation. Otherwise we will lose that precious and valuable experiences. To do that we have to record them, do naval exercises, and incorporate that knowledge in the Naval training. Only through such activities will we be able to benefit from those experiences”, he added.

Talking about the post conflict challenges before the Sri Lanka Navy, Vice Admiral Colombage said that the protection of the maritime resources within the territorial waters of Sri Lanka without allowing other nations to exploit them is one of the biggest challenges before the Sri Lanka Navy.

“The other big challenge before us is not to allow any armed group to make use of our territorial waters against the State and its people. The Sri Lanka Navy is committed to fulfill that task effectively”, Vice Admiral Colombage said.

He also said that the Sri Lanka Navy is committed to deploy adequate men and vessels to put a stop for the drug trafficking and illegal immigrants to and from the country and they have deployed enough strength in the Mannar region.

He also emphasised the need for the Sri Lanka Navy to be equipped with resources and vessels to fulfill the task of patrolling the territorial waters of Sri Lanka, spanning to 200 nautical miles from the shore.

“Earlier we were equipped with vessels to patrol the sea around the country to prevent any terror activities and now we have the task of patrolling the territorial waters spanning to 200 nautical miles from the shores effectively. For that we need to be equipped with better facilities”, he said.

Vice Admiral Colombage was elevated to the high command of the Navy while serving as the Commander of the Eastern Naval Area. He is the second such officer to be appointed to that position directly from an operational naval command.

An old boy of St. Sylvester’s College, Kandy he joined the Sri Lanka Navy as an Officer Cadet on 23rd August 1978 and successfully completed his basic training at the renowned Naval and Maritime Academy in Trincomalee winning the ‘Sword of Honour’ for the Best Officer Cadet of the 7th Intake.

He was then selected to attend the prestigious International Midshipmen Course in the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in the United Kingdom.

He has commanded four Operational Naval Commands - Eastern, Northern, Western and North Central for a period spanning 4 years. He has also served twice as the Director General Operations at Naval Headquarters. Prior to that he served as the Director General Services as well as Director Naval Training and Personnel.

He also had served in the appointments of Deputy Area Commander (North Central), Deputy Area Commander (South) and Deputy Area Commander (East). Vice Admiral Colombage has commanded numerous ships of the Sri Lanka Navy including the Fast Missile Vessels, Fast Gun Boats, Fast Attack Craft and Amphibious ships and has been awarded the Surface Warfare Badge. He is a weapon specialist who has undergone extensive training with the Indian Navy and in the People’s Republic of China.He is a recipient of the Rana Sura Padakkama for gallantry.