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| Sunday, 27 March 2005 |
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News |
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News Business Features
Editorial
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'Mahiraja' still grounded by Rohan Mathes The Coast Guard Vessel 'Mahiraja' once owned by the Fisheries Department's Monitoring Control and Surveilance (MCS) Division was washed ashore and badly grounded, close to the Beruwala Police Station by the tsunami tidal waves, informed sources said. Ironically, even three months after the tsunami tragedy, the now crippled and unseaworthy Mahiraja, (named after present Premier Mahinda Rajapakse, who was then Fisheries Minister) estimated to be over Rs. 20 million, still lies unsalvaged. Other fishing boats in the region wrecked by the tsunami has been attended to, salvaged and repaired by the authorities. It is believed that personnel attached to the Coast Conservation Department had piloted the Vessel when it grounded on that fatal Boxing Day. The Fisheries Ministry MCS Division Director Jayantha Weerakoonwhen contacted told the Sunday Observer that the delay in salvaging the Vessel was due to very high quotations offered by the relevant parties in the recent past. The Senior Radio Officer in Charge of the Beruwala Fisheries Radio Station Asoka Jayaweera however told the Sunday Observer that the Navy had made a preliminary survey on the grounded Mahiraja last week to ascertain the extent of damage and the options for salvage. The vessel's hull is badly damaged and unseaworthy now. Only its twin-engine and generator could be salvaged, he said. Another coast guard boat named Maya is assumed to have sunk in Tangalle bay while Kadira is supposed to have disappeared from Galle.
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