India to refit Navy flagship at no cost

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 May 2005, 21:06 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) said an Indian naval delegation consisting of top engineers and architects is visiting the island to discuss the refitting of the SLN flagship ‘Sayura.’ The ship is to be refitted in a naval dockyard in India, the SLN said.

During President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s official visit of to India in December 2004, the Indian government had agreed to carry out the refit of ‘Sayura’ in India at no cost to Sri Lanka, the SLN said.

The ‘Sayura,’ an offshore patrol vessel (OPV) was purchased from Indian Navy in 1998 and served as the Sri Lanka Navy flagship and in off-shore surveillance operations, the SLN said.