5TH LEAD

Sea Tiger commandos sink SLN supply ship in Trinco Harbour

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 May 2008, 21:40 GMT]
A troop carrier cum supply ship of the Sri Lanka Navy, A-520, named 'MV Invincible', was sunk by Sea Tiger naval commandos in the Trincomalee Harbour at 2:23 a.m. Saturday, according to the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) officials in Vanni. The underwater attack by Black Tigers was carried out when the supply vessel was loaded with explosives to be transported to KKS Harbour in Jaffna, the LTTE said.

The ship was sunk within the first 13-minutes of the attack, the Tigers said.

The 80-meter long supply ship and troop carrier has also been deployed in the Sri Lanka Navy's deep sea operations against Tiger vessels in 2007.

The ship has lately been engaged in naval resupply service between KKS and Trincomalee.

The Sri Lanka Navy seized the ship in 2003 when it was reportedly involved in a people-smuggling operations. Operated by a Russian or Georgian crew, it had 250 Pakistanis on board, who had flown legitimately to Colombo, the BBC reported.

Commandos from Kangkai Amaran unit of the Sea Tigers took part in Saturday’s mission, the LTTE also said. The unit was named after a senior commander of the Sea Tigers killed by Sri Lankan Army Deep Penetration Unit on 29 June 2001 in an attack in the Mannaar district.

External Links:

BBC:

Pakistanis remanded in Sri Lanka