Navy on the look-out for second passenger vessel

Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) is currently eyeing possibilities of either leasing or acquiring another passenger vessel for both commercial and in-house operations. This comes in the wake of the Jetliner being sent back to Indo- nesia last month following the completion of its lease period in Colombo since it arrived in 2006. At present the navy was planning to either acquire or lease out another passenger vessel for similar operations as the Jetliner, the Sri Lanka Navy Spokesman Commander Kosala Warnakulasuriya said in an interview with the Business Times. He noted that they were looking for a similar passenger vessel as it was mandatory for the navy to maintain such a vessel among its fleet. Currently, the only other ves- sel available, according to him was the Alpha 543 that is used for whale watching with the ability to handle 350 persons onboard. The Jetliner operated as a reception hall and provided cruises during evenings and on weekends, Commander Warnakula- suriya explained. He pointed out that since the navy continued to maintain it, it proved essential in producing a good return through the provision of these services for entertainment purposes without keeping it idle. The Jetliner, the spokesman said was the big- gest passenger ferry the SLN had in its fleet and was used for the transfer of soldiers during the war and as part of its humanitarian operations. At the conclusion of the war the vessel was docked at the Colombo harbor since 2010.