Improving blue water capabilities vital:

Sri Lanka a maritime hub  - Navy Commander

By Ranil WIJAYAPALA

Vice Admiral Jayanath Colombage, an exemplary Naval officer who assumed duties as the 18th Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy believes in the expansion of the Navy to create the first line of defence around the country, enabling it to go beyond the 2,000 nautical mile range to patrol the territorial waters of the country with the change of its role in the post-conflict scenario.

“We really want to approach the blue water capabilities more and more”, he says in an exclusive interview with the Sunday Observer, explaining his future vision for the Sri Lanka Navy.

He also believes that the Navy has the prime role in making Sri Lanka a maritime hub which is one of the five components the country should achieve in its endeavour to become the 'Wonder of Asia,' according to the Mahinda Chinthana. He also explains how he plans to create new doctrines in training personnel in the Navy, combined with the creation of the Research Wing in the Navy to pass the 'hard earned' experience to the future generation.

Following are excerpts of the interview:

Q: How do you feel becoming the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy in the post conflict scenario?

A: I am extremely proud to be the 18th Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy. It almost 62 years old and has a great history. It emerged victorious at the end of the humanitarian operation in 2009. I would say the Navy evolved into what it is today through the past two decades. I joined the Sri Lanka Navy in 1978, and I have seen the beginning and end of the war on terrorism.

Now three years have passed after the great victory and we enjoy peace and stability, thanks to President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Secretary Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa for the leadership and the resolve they had. I am extremely happy because the post conflict period and three years on is also a crucial period for us. Now our challenges are different. If we don't do the right things right now there can be another insurgency or guerrilla warfare in another ten to thirty years to come. This is a crucial period and therefore, I am extremely happy and proud to have won the confidence of the political leadership to head the Sri Lanka Navy.

Q: Did you ever think of becoming the Navy Commander when you joined the Sri Lanka Navy?

A: When I joined the Sri Lanka Navy 34 years ago, I was just an officer cadet. My ambition was to do the best with the opportunities I get. I proved that by becoming the best cadet in the 7th intake to the SLN and winning the Sword of Honour in 1979. At that time I did not know whether I would be a Commander or not but I wanted to do the best in every appointment and I did that until the day I became the Commander. I think it automatically contributed to my career development rather than being ambitious from the beginning of my career.

Q: There was a lot of competition to become the Navy Commander and also you had a lot of competitors. How do you see this situation?

A: There is always competition. During the war on terrorism we had many senior officers who fought the war. Everybody deserved a promotion. This is purely a hierarchical, political and executive decision. We all have to respect that decision.

Q: There are senior officers in the Navy parallel to you. How do you feel working with them after your appointment as the Navy Commander?

A: There are many senior officers in the Navy compared with the Army and the Air Force. The Navy is heavy at the top because there are many senior officers in the hierarchy.

To tell you the truth, all of them are my friends and my colleagues and I have been working with them in many appointments. We have been friends, we have been brothers, and we have been partners in various things. So, I find it very easy to work with these senior officers, because I am determined to get the best out of these senior officers. They have a wealth of knowledge and experience. I am determined to get their services for the betterment of the country.

Q: There are reports to say that some officers have been disheartened over your appointment.

A: As I mentioned at the beginning, this is a decision taken by President Mahinda Rajapaksa based on recommendations of the Secretary of Defence and various other senior persons. We have to honour and respect that decision. When we joined the Navy in 1978 there were 23 officers in my batch. Everybody cannot become the Commander.

Q: How do you think the role of the Navy should be changed to suit present day challenges?

A: The challenges Sri Lanka is facing now is different. It is clearly mentioned in the Mahinda Chinthana 2005 that we want to be the 'Wonder of Asia'. Being in the Navy I feel that it is the Navy's responsibility to contribute towards making Sri Lanka a maritime hub.

Q: How do you plan to contribute towards that?

A: I feel maintaining the freedom and the security of the sea lanes of communication and maintaining the freedom and the efficiency of the coast around the country is of paramount importance. If we can do that, I think we are doing our job.

Q: What are the other challenges you find that the Navy is facing at present?

A: I believe there is plenty of wealth in the ocean around us. Our population is increasing and our land utilisation is optimised. At the next step we will have to look at the ocean resources and it may be renewable or non renewable resources. Therefore, the Sri Lanka Navy has another key role in protecting off-shore ocean resources and assisting the government and agencies appointed to explore these resources in a safe, economical and efficient manner.

Q: Countering illegal immigrants has increased during the past few months and how can the Sri Lanka Navy can do about it?

A: During the past 10 to 12 months the Sri Lanka Navy arrested over 2,000 would-be illegal immigrants to Australia and we have arrested a large number of fishing boats which were used. We have helped the Police to arrest the ring leaders and human trafficking racketeers. This is a problem we we face right now. These people are trying to discredit the government reconciliation and development efforts. There is no human rights violation, there is no abuse of power, there is no excessive power and people lead a normal life. But these people are going because they want more money and may be most probably the LTTE rump organisation is inciting these people to go out of the country and claim that they are being persecuted at home. So they want to create a negative impression of the country and that is another responsibility thrust upon the Sri Lanka Navy.

Q: As you said, illegal immigrants and drug trafficking are some of the issues the Sri Lanka Navy is facing at present. How are you going to address these issues and what are the plans you have for them?

A: Basically, for drug trafficking and human trafficking we work on the intelligence. It is difficult to check each and every boat at sea. There are thousands of fishing boats. Most of these fishing boats are owned by legitimate fishermen.

If we try to enforce a fishing marshalling system we had earlier, that was the time we checked each and every boat which was going out to sea and we were checking how many people are there. But now we can’t do it because peace has dawned. Dividends of peace should be felt by the people.

We can deploy our intelligence along the coast, along littorals and along the coastal area. Based on that intelligence we have to identify who are the people who are carrying out these nefarious activities like drug trafficking, human smuggling and contraband trafficking. It may be intelligence and combined maritime surveillance at sea.

Q: Do you think that the Sri Lanka Navy has enough resources to face all these challenges. Now the Navy has to face an unknown enemy?

A: With the unknown enemy it is more difficult. We have to maintain surveillance on the maritime domain. After the humanitarian operation. Now three years on we have those platforms and we have those capabilities and we are trying to maintain those capabilities. Now we are at a stage we really want to go beyond the 2,000 nautical mile range. We really want to approach the blue water capabilities more and more. During the war we had very limited blue water capability. We practically converted whatever brown water capability we had into limited blue water capability. That cannot sustain for a long period. Now there is a requirement for us to have bigger ships which have more endurance, can go out and be at sea for longer periods on their own. My mission is to work on acquiring that bigger platform that can advance our off-shore patrol vessels enhancing our capability to guard the entire maritime space around our country.

Q: You mentioned that the Sri Lanka Navy needs to be equipped with bigger vessels with advanced capabilities. Do you have plans for the purchase of such ships for the Sri Lanka Navy and do you have the blessings of the Government to go ahead with such purchases?

A: There is a big blessing from the Government at the moment and actually we have signed an agreement with some friendly nations to place an order for two Advanced Offshore Vessels. At the same time we are exploring the possibility of acquiring ships from other friendly countries. Once we finalise the studies we can go ahead in acquiring these ships. I must mention that it is not easy to acquire naval vessel very quickly. It takes time because we have to workout our own requirements and that requirement has to be met by the ship builder. Then there is a price tag. The price tag should be agreeable to our government. Then we should consider whether we get a soft loan or whether we get a long-term loan. Those negotiations have to be done. So it is a long process but we are on track.

Q: The Indian fishermen issue has become a major concern for the Sri Lanka Navy. There had been many efforts to find a solution. Do you think that any permanent solution can be evolved and what plans do you have in this regard?

A: I think Indian fishermen issue is not merely a fisherman issue. It has now become a diplomatic issue and also a bilateral issue between the two countries. We cannot really address this by looking at the fisherman alone. The scope has to be much more than that. Right now there is a joint working group having discussions between the two countries. At least for the time being the violence being used has been drastically reduced. That itself is a great achievement. So, I believe that we have to continue that dialogue at the highest level, bilateral level, at the working groups’ level and then we have to come to a solution which is acceptable and agreeable to both the countries without allowing this to escalate as it can even harm the good relations between Sri Lanka and India.

Q: Do you believe in the expansion of the Sri Lanka Navy?

A: Yes I do believe. Because we are an island nation and right around the coast is our first frontier. Therefore, Sri Lanka Navy should be the first line of defence in our country. We are in the most important location in the Indian Ocean both strategically and geo-strategically. We have our responsibility not only to our country but to the region too, to the Indian Ocean and thereby to the entire world to maintain this region as a trouble free, piracy free and nefarious activity free area for the common good of the entire world. Therefore, the only solution is to expand the Navy and I believe President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Secretary of Defence have said again and again that the Sri Lanka Navy should be expanded. I hope that dream will become a reality very soon.

Q: You mention about sea piracy. Do you think that sea piracy is a big issue for Sri Lanka?

A: At the moment what is happening in the horn of Africa is not directly affecting Sri Lanka because we are quite far from the trouble zone of piracy prone area. However, we do our part and we provide our ships to patrol in certain areas and looking for pirates vessels. We also provide other facilities for the ships to engage in counter piracy operations transiting through the Indian Ocean. Right now there is no direct impact on Sri Lanka. But it affects the entire global maritime trade and thereby Sri Lanka also can be affected. I must mention that if Sri Lanka Navy did not defeat the LTTE Sea Tigers at sea, there could be piracy happening in this part of the world as well. So I believe the Sri Lanka Navy by defeating the sea Tigers at sea prevented any LTTE cadres from engaging in piracy at the sea. This is a similar situation we see in the horn of Africa. The lawless situation in Somalian continent has contributed to the piracy at sea. I think the Sri Lanka Navy did not allow the LTTE sea Tigers to go beyond Sri Lanka shores.

Q: What is the role the Sri Lanka Navy is playing to prevent sea piracy in the region?

A: We are part of the entire big operation in the Indian Ocean nation to look for piracy and we are concentrating on certain areas closer to Sri Lanka on the western frontier of Sri Lanka. We also contribute our expertise and hard earned knowledge in many international counter piracy forums as our representatives present papers and are actively participating in various discussions. We believe that through fighting an asymmetrical warfare with a guerrilla organisation which had the international maritime capability we have gained experience. We are sharing these experiences with other countries who are engaged in counter piracy operations. We are ready to share this knowledge with whomever in the common global maritime trade.

Q: You have mentioned that the experience the Sri Lanka Navy gained during the conflict would be passed onto the future generation. What plans do you have to implement this?

A: If we do not record what we did, if we do not analyse what we did, if we do not do training on what we did, the next generation will not know how hard the Sri Lanka Navy fought the war. So, I believe since we have a breathing space we must start recording these things. I have a plan to have a Naval Research Wing purely dedicated to the task of the recording all these activities and analyse these activities and compare with other situations and compare with the overall achievement of the Sri Lanka Army or the Air Force and draw lessons from them. And based on them we can modify our training and we can modify our war gaming. I believe that we can present that hard earned knowledge to the next generation of Naval officers and sailors.

Q: Different Commanders have different visions. Do you have any such vision?

A: I am lucky that I have inherited a capable Navy. It is unfair if I don't mention the names of the former Commanders. We don't need to talk about all the Commanders but if I mention the last three commanders, Admiral Karannagoda; He transformed the Sri Lanka Navy into an individual fighting force standing on its own feet whether it is intelligence and other activities. That transformed the Navy from playing a supportive role to a very active Navy. Then Admiral Samarasinghe, brought international recognition to the Sri Lanka Navy, because he hosted the 60th anniversary of the Navy inviting many ships and many dignitaries to come.

He brought the international attention. Then Admiral Dissanayake my predecessor, he actually embarked on a construction miracle. He upgraded the Navy welfare facilities. Sailors are now living a much higher standard life. So now they have done that part, and I believe my responsibility will be to embark more on the training aspect of the Sri Lanka Navy.

We really need to have new training doctrines and we have to have new training objectives and we have to have measurements and we have to have assessments of our training. And next, combined with the training, to have a Naval Research Wing. That can be my future vision.

Q: We are now in peacetime and a period without any internal or external threat. So don't you think that it is time for us to go for ship building ventures to fulfill the requirement of the Navy?

A: We are an island nation and we have had a greater maritime heritage much before the colonial powers came to our country. We had a ship building industry and our ships were referred to as big ships from Ceylon. We have taken orders to build ships in Oman and China and South East Asia. We had a very good ship building industry. However, with the colonial expansion and the colonial occupation in Sri Lanka, we lost that maritime affinity. But now we can embark on that as we had enough battle experience at sea and we have succeeded. We can combine those experiences to the platforms.

We have a great potential in ship building industry. Sri Lanka Navy embarked on the boat building industry and we have really succeeded in a great way producing a large number of boats which we used to get from outside contractors and foreign countries. Now we are self-sufficient in building our small boats. Now we must explore the possibility and feasibility of going beyond the small boats manufacturing to build bigger platforms and bigger ships. I think there is great potential in the country for the ship building industry.

Q: What are the things you are striving to achieve during your tenure as the Navy Commander?

A: I wish to have a highly professional, good, cultured and well-mannered Navy to meet the challenges of the 21st century and thereby serving our country and our nation by defending it, guarding it and helping it to reach the economic prosperity to meet the vision and the mission of the President, Secretary Defence and the political leadership.