Pic by Pradeep Pathirana

The Offshore Patrol Vessel P 627, gifted to the Sri Lanka Navy from the United States (U.S.) Coast Guard, arrived at the Port of Colombo yesterday morning. The ship began her home-bound journey from the Port of Seattle on September 03 and arrived in Colombo after about 10656 nautical miles (19734 km) of sea passage.  

At the invitation of Commander of the Navy,Vice Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne, the State Minister of Defence, Premitha Bandara Tennakoon, U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung, Defence Secretary, General Kamal Gunaratne (Retd), Chief of Defence Staff, General Shavendra Silva, Commander of the Army, Vikum Liyanage, Commander of the Air Force, Sudarshana Pathirana and a host of distinguished guests were present on the occasion to welcome the ship.  

Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) formally took the delivery of EX-United States Coast Guard Cutter, USCGC Douglas Munro, provided by the United States (U.S.) Coast Guard to SLN, at the U.S. Coast Guard Base Seattle of Washington in the United States on October 26, 2021. Following the acquisition, she was designated as P 627, attached to SLN fleet.  
P 627, the second ‘Hamilton Class High Endurance Cutter’, received by SLN, measures 115m in length and capable of reaching the maximum speed of 29 knots with 14000 nautical miles of endurance at cruising speed. 

Further, she has been designed for 187 crew members and is equipped with modern weapons and machinery that suit SLN’s operational requirements. 
During her stint with the U.S. Coast Guard the ship has rendered an exceptional service by curbing illegal fishing, illegal immigration and seizure of a large quantity of narcotics in U.S. waters.  

Pix by Pradeep Pathirana