An attempt by Sea Tigers to sink two vessels, one carrying food, at Myliddy, near the Kankesanthurai harbour, was foiled by Navy escort vessels. Mercs Ruhuna and Mercs Nimalawa, the cargo ships, were targeted by three LTTE suicide boats. The Navy destroyed two of the boats, one of which exploded near Mercs Nimalawa causing damage to it, but the cargo was safe.

The incident occurred around 5.00 a.m. yesterday. Mercs Ruhuna was carrying a load 3,800 metric tons of cement from Trincomalee to Kankesanthurai while Mercs Nimalawa carried food items and fertilizer weighing 2,350 metric tons. It had sailed from Colombo.
Damaged section of the cargo vessel
‘Mercs Nimalawa’
When both vessels reached Myliddy, on their way to the Kankesanthurai port, their Navy escort vessels had noticed three small boats and suspecting them to be LTTE suicide boats opened fire. Two of the suicide boats exploded, one the near Mercs Nimalawa, killing the occupants while another boat was captured by the Navy. The fate of those on board was not known. The occupants of the third boat were either killed or escaped, Naval sources said.

Some explosives were discovered in the captured suicide boat.

The Navy believes that the LTTE would have mistaken the vessels for troops carriers while Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the LTTE wanted to deprive the people of Jaffna of food and other essentials and show the world that even Jaffna people are deprived of food and other essentials.