Removal of unexploded underwater ordnance:

SL-US Navy in joint diving training

A joint diving exercise by SL-US Navy

A twenty-member Sri Lanka Navy diving squad is undergoing diving training with the US Navy sailors from the Explosive Ordinance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 5 in Guam.

Navy divers were being trained to acquire skills and knowledge to remove unexploded underwater ordnances left by the LTTE in tanks and lagoons in the North and the East.

The combined military-to-military Subject Matter Expert Exchange (SMEE) training commenced on April 7, 2016. The ten-day training program covers a range of theoretical and practical applications related to diving operations. The exposure will help build on relations and strengthen diving capabilities.

During a joint-diving exercise conducted as a part of the training on April 13, US Navy sailors from the EODMU 5, and the Sri Lanka Navy divers drove to the Tokai Maru, a sunken World War II Japanese freighter as part of a coordinated effort by the Commander, Task Force 75, the primary expeditionary task force responsible for the planning and execution of coastal riverine operations, explosive ordnance disposal, diving, engineering and construction and underwater construction in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility.