Indian Naval Ship ‘Airavat ’, a Shardul-class Landing Ship Tank (LST) is scheduled to visit Colombo from 01-04 June 2026. The Ship will undertake an Operational Turnaround (OTR) by embarking fuel and provisions.
The ship is bringing along critical spares for the Sri Lanka Coast Guard ship Suraksha from the Indian Coast Guard under a Government of India grant.
During the stay, the commanding officer of the Ship, Commander IP Patil, will be calling on the Commander, Western Naval Area, and the ship’s crew will have professional and sports interactions with the Sri Lanka Navy. Further, the ship’s crew will join hands with the Sri Lanka Navy in a beach cleaning programme in Colombo in support of the ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ campaign.
It may be recalled that INS Gharial, similar class of ship, visited Sri Lanka with 650 tons of relief ration during Cyclone ‘Ditwah’ in December 2025. Subsequently, the shipbrought10 Bailey bridges in February 2026 for reconstruction of bridges destroyed during the cyclone.
Visits by Indian Navy vessels to Sri Lanka aim to further strengthen the strong bonds between both friendly Navies, which is in line with India’s policy of ‘Neighbourhood First’ and Hon’ble PM’s vision of ‘Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions(MAHASAGAR)’.
