Sri Lanka Navy receives state of the art frigate gifted by Chinese government
Sri Lanka has received the P625, which is a state-of-the-art frigate, gifted by China to Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) yesterday (8).
The frigate had arrived at the Colombo Harbour after 12 days sail from Shanghai, with 18 officers and 92 sailors on board.
The local media has reported that the arrival was warmly welcomed by Ambassador of China to Sri Lanka Cheng Xueyuan, and Sri Lanka Navy Commander Vice Admiral De Silva, representatives of Sri Lanka-China friendly organisations and overseas Chinese community. A welcome reception for the ship was also hosted in the Chinese embassy on the same day.
The frigate is to be a main ship in charge of offshore patrol, maritime safety, environment monitoring, anti-piracy combat and other operations for Sri Lanka Navy.
This ship is also considered a most advanced and capable one in the Sri Lanka Navy.
Built in 1994, it is 112 m long, 12.4 m wide, 3.5 m designed draft, 1,975 tons of standard drainage, and 2,308 tons of full-load drainage. It can withstand force nine wind (strong gale) when it is standard drainage.
According to reports, the power system uses two 18E390VA (optimized) medium-speed diesel engines and endurance is 3,500 nautical miles and self-sufficiency of P625 is 15 days and nights when sailing at 18 knots patrol speed.
OSL take:
The gifting of the frigate by the Chinese government to Sri Lanka Navy is indicative of the strong bilateral ties between the two countries. Sri Lanka is also in the process of recommencing negotiations with China on a free trade agreement (FTA) and China is one of the key financial donors to the island as well. Given the close ties between Sri Lanka and China, Chinese businesses/investors could explore business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka and also look at the possibility of forming partnerships with local companies. Local businesses could also explore the possibility of forming partnerships with Chinese businesses and explore business/investment opportunities in China.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/09072019/Z_6 |