The Indian Coast Guard Ship Varuna will be handed over to the Sri Lankan Coast Guard on Tuesday at a function at Naval Base, Kochi, in the presence of Rear Admiral Samantha Wimalathunge, Director General of Sri Lanka Coast Guard.
According to the New Indian Express, ICGS Varuna was commissioned into service on February 27, 1988, by the then Defence Minister K C Pant and was decommissioned last month (August 23).
This is not the first time that a ship has been given to Sri Lanka the report claimed. INS Sarayu, a patrol vessel of the Indian Navy, was de-commissioned in 2010 and sold to Sri Lankan Navy where it served as SLNS Sayura. Similarly, INS Krishna, which ‘retired from service’ in 2012, first served as Royal Navy’s HMS Andromeda from 1968 to November 1994. It served as one of Indian Navy’s First Training Squadron Ships.
ICGS Varuna, since her commissioning was deployed for a total of 10,632 days, trained a total of 720 officers, saved 77 lives, total catch (Gold or contraband) Rs 92.56 crore, and visited 22 foreign ports.
The ship was named after Lord Varuna, the deity of water bodies and sea. ICGS Varuna reigned the seas for the last 30 years and is the golden glory of the Indian Coast Guard.
The funeral of arguably the Queen of the Sinhala cinema Malini Fonseka, will be held with state honours on Monday, May 26, 2025, at the Independence Square.
First Bishop of the Batticaloa Diocese, Retired Bishop Joseph Ponnaiya, passed away today at the age of 74, following a brief illness.
The NPP government has been at the wheel for almost 6 months now. The time to keep looking at the rear view mirror and living in the past is about over.
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