Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa commissioned SLNS Mihikatha and SLNS Rathnadeepa at the Port of Colombo on 9th July 2014.
SLNS Mihikatha and SLNS Rathnadeepa, two patrol boats gifted by Australia, joined the SLN Fleet on 29th March and 3rd June 2014 respectively and were assigned the pennant numbers P350 and P351.
Both are Bay Class patrol boats, which had served the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service under the names “Corio Bay” and “Hervey Bay” respectively before being gifted to Sri Lanka. Each is 38.2 meters long and has a 2.4 meter draft. With a maximum speed of 24 knots, the boat can cover a range of 3,000 nautical miles.
The fully furbished boats will substantially augment the SLN’s capacity as they are able to cover a large area of the Indian Ocean and serve Sri Lanka’s Search and Rescue Area more effectively.
[mappress] Press Release, July 09, 2014; Image: Sri Lanka Navy