25 March 2019 10:27 am
By Darshana Sanjeewa
Four Australian ships belonging to the Royal Australian Navy arrived in Sri Lanka on Saturday to participate in the Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2019.
The ships, HMAS “Canberra” and HMAS “Newcastle” arrived at the Colombo port while HMAS “Success” and HMAS “Parramatta” arrived at the Trincomalee port, the Navy said.
The 230.9m long and 7.9m wide ‘Canberra which is commanded by Captain Ashley M. Papp under Flag Officer Air Commodore Richard Owen, has a displacement of 27, 500 tonnes and a crew of 483 officers and sailors on board.
The ship “Newcastle” commanded by Commander Anita Sellick which has a displacement of 4, 200 tonnes and a crew of 205 officers and sailors on board, is 138.1m long and 7.9m in width.
Navy said the ship “Success” which is commanded by Captain Darren G. Grogan, is 157.2m in length and 8.4m in width and has a displacement of 17, 900 tonnes with a crew of 178 officers and sailors on board.
HMAS “Parramatta” commanded by Commander T Van Tienhovan has a displacement of 3, 900 tonnes and a crew of 190 officers and sailors on board, is 118m long and 6.2m in width.
Accordingly, humanitarian and disaster relief activities, helicopter exchange operations, maritime domain awareness activities, tri forces band performance with Australian Defence Force Band are scheduled to be conducted during the programme.
Two ships are scheduled to set sail from the island on March 27 while the other two ships will depart Sri Lanka on March 30.
The ships, HMAS “Canberra” and HMAS “Newcastle” arrived at the Colombo port while HMAS “Success” and HMAS “Parramatta” arrived at the Trincomalee port