Mercy Mission UK, the organizers of the ship 'Captain Ali' have insisted in a press release that the Sri Lankan government was informed in advance of the arrival of the ship with humanitarian supplies to Colombo. The ship was detained by the Navy last week claiming it did not have clearance.
Mercy Mission (UK) said that it is with regret that it learns the Government of Sri Lanka detained the Mercy Mission ship the MV “Captain Ali” (IMO: 6619920) on 04 June 2009.
Mercy Mission (UK) understands that the Sri Lanka Navy allege that the MV Captain Ali is not in compliance with the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code. If this is the case and the non-Mercy Mission persons responsible for this compliance did not fulfil their responsibilities and handle these matters in the appropriate, professional manner, Mercy Mission (UK) apologizes, the statement said.
But, Mercy Mission (UK) wishes to categorically state that the Government of Sri Lanka and the President of Sri Lanka have been notified of the Mercy Mission ship and the project to assist the 300,000 internally displaced persons living in the camps in the North on a number of occasions:
Mercy Mission (UK) implores the Government of Sri Lanka to engage with the Mercy Mission in order to overcome any paperwork errors and ensure that the emergency humanitarian relief (food & medicine) donated by the Tamil Diaspora are delivered to the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the camps.