The following is the translation of the article 'නිශ්ශංක හෙළි කරන පාවෙන අවි ගබඩාවේ ඇත්ත කතාව 2' (Nissanka reveals truth about the floating armoury - 2) which was published by the Divaina newspaper.
(An old boy of Isipathana College of Colombo, Major Nissanka Senadhipathi, joined the Sri Lanka Army Commando Regiment as an Officer Cadet in 1985. Having been trained in many foreign countries, he has served with distinction in many responsible duties in the Sri Lanka Army in the North and East. Specially trained in VIP protection in foreign countries, he has excelled whilst serving as Chief Security Officer of Former President, late D. B. Wijetunge and Former Minister late Gamini Dissanayake. Among these VIP protection duties, one of his most responsible and prominent duties had been serving as Chief Security Officer of the Head of Indian Peace Keeping Force, Lieutenant General A. R. Kalkat. Major. Senadhipathi retired from the military in 1996.)
We have heard about many things that float. Floating palaces, floating bridges, floating power stations, etc. However, the first time we heard about a floating armoury is only a few weeks ago. That is the reason everyone was inquisitive about what this is.
It did not take long for rumours to spread about the arrest by the police of a floating armoury in the Galle harbour. Many ignorant people made many conclusions without any knowledge somewhat akin to a blind man describing about an elephant. Therefore the stories that spread around the country were more speculation and absurdities than the “real story”.
We will hereby try to tell the real story of the floating armoury.
What is the requirement of a floating armoury? We will first try to explain that.
After the World Wars, floating armouries were required in international waters with the proliferation of Somalian sea piracy in the Indian Ocean. Whilst many developed countries and security organizations provided security to ships transiting easterly and westerly in the Indian Ocean, floating armouries were also required to complement such operations. How few people in our country of 20 million know that there are many floating armouries operating in international waters?
Sea piracy against commercial ships has a long history. It is historically recorded that one of the top ports in the world, Dubai, had been a heaven of sea pirates in the past. That is the reason that there is a museum in Dubai displaying ancient vessels and weapons used by those sea pirates.
However, with the development of naval industry, sea piracy gradually diminished and vanished.
About 2005, with the breakdown of governance and economy of Somalia which is in North East Africa, the people there started resorting to many illegal and criminal activities. Since many commercial ships with valuable cargo and oil have to transit close to Somalia, leading criminals of that country resorted to sea piracy as an easy source of revenue.
Before long it developed to a serious problem. Somali pirates did not only rob ships. They went further and hijacked the ships, brought them to Somali waters and kept the ship and its crew as hostages asking for massive ransom money. Year 2005 was the height of these Somali activities. About 2/3 of ships proceeding to Atlantic or Pacific oceans transit through the Indian Ocean. Piracy activities prompted these ships to resolve to alternative means. Shipping companies had to increase freight rates because of the high premium to be paid for insurance.
With no alternative, some insurance companies advised shipping companies to obtain security from leading security companies. Insurance companies went to the extent of declining to insure ships without protection by such reputed international security companies.
According to Law of the Sea, such protection to commercial ships could be provided only by private contractors as no naval or any other state military are allowed on commercial ships. Similarly, a ship could not directly employ armed security personnel as it is a specialised field out of the scope of the shipping industry. Another reason is that if a ship directly employs such security personnel, it will have restrictions in entering ports as those people would not be part of a typical ship’s crew. Another reason was the exorbitant cost caused by employing these people permanently as ship’s crew, because they would be idling most of the time when actually the real requirement is only for a short period when the ship is in vulnerable areas.
The most appropriate and convenient action was determined to be embarking private security personnel just before entering the vulnerable are and disembarking them immediately after passing the vulnerable area. The only way this was possible is to have floating armouries just before entering the vulnerable area as well as just after the vulnerable area, with weapons and private security personnel ready to embark or disembark from commercial ships. What happens is when a ship from Europe enters the Red Sea after transiting the Suez Canal, it picks up a few security personnel and weapons from a floating armoury. Thereafter the ship passes Somalia and the vulnerable area well protected, and disembarks those security personnel and weapons at Galle and continues its journey to China, Japan, Singapore, etc. Similarly, ships from China, Japan, Singapore, etc., proceeding westwards towards Europe also go past Sri Lanka. Those ships pick up security personnel and weapons from Galle and disembark them in the Red Sea or off Oman. Effectively what happens is ships use protection only during passage in vulnerable area and go about their business as usual outside the vulnerable area. This is a simple solution.
It did not take long for the shipping industry to realize that this is the most effective, least expensive and most convenient course of action to protect their ships from Somali pirates. These ships were well protected because the Somali pirates could not attack them as the professional security personnel now embarked in these ships responded quickly with fire power.
There are six such floating armouries providing this logistic service in the Red Sea. One of them is owned by a Sri Lankan. There are five such floating armouries off Oman in international waters. One of them is also owned by a Sri Lankan. However, at the other end of the vulnerable area, which is off Sri Lanka, there is only one floating armoury in Galle. The ownership of that also is by the same Sri Lankan who owns two other floating armouries in Red Sea and Gulf of Oman which is a matter of pride for us Sri Lankans. The floating armoury off Sri Lanka is of greater regional significance as it was established conforming to a tripartite agreement between Sri Lanka, India and Maldives in order to assure regional security as the three countries are satisfied of the legitimacy of it and to prevent any other floating armoury operating in the region.
He is none other than Chairman of Avant Guard Security Services, which is a parent company of Avant Guard Maritime Services. He is the owner of “Mahanuwara” which was reported to be arrested on grounds of illegal floating armoury. This floating armoury has been in operation for over two and a half years with the knowledge and approval of Sri Lanka Ports Authority, Management of Galle Harbour, Sri Lanka Customs, Sri Lanka Director General of Merchant Shipping, Galle Harbour Police and Commander of Southern Naval Area. Therefore the speculation that this was operated in secrecy is a big joke.
Galle Floating Armoury is just one part of the maritime operations of Avant Garde Maritime Services (Pvt) Limited. Besides there are about 10 other maritime operations carried out by AGMS namely, air transportation of weapons, maintaining land based armouries, hiring of sea armed and unarmed marshals, hiring of RALL arms with custodians, commercial vessel operations, fishing trawler operations, firing training for foreign sea marshals, conducting of Maritime Security Officer courses, training local sea marshals etc.
With the proliferation of it was realised that it is not possible for the Navy to handle such a big international commercial venture as Navies are not geared to undertake such operations. Nowhere in the world does a Navy conducts international commercial ventures. It is not a typical role of a Navy. Consequently, under the direction of Ministry of Defence, the operation was handed over to RALL, which is a commercial enterprise. This operation was new to RALL hence beyond its capability and expertise. By that time, Avant Garde was the only company that had already been in this business for over 2 years, operating 2 other floating armouries, in addition to having over 800 personnel deployed at sea and in offices established and maintained in many countries in the fringes of the Indian Ocean, which were ample evidence that Avant Garde was more than capable of handling the operation by itself. There was no other with such capability. The operations of Avant Garde were carried out by many very senior and capable military officers, and it became apparent that the only way the operation could be continued was by asking Avant Garde to undertake it. In fact, it was determined that there was no other company in the world that could match the expertise and experience of Avant garde.
He vehemently repudiates that this is an illegal floating armoury. He states that it is 100% legal. He further states that it will be proven with evidence and other documents that he possesses. We wanted to find out the benefits of this operation and the expertise and strength of him and his team in conducting this operation.
Do these ships belong to you?
No. I have chartered “Mahanuwara”, and the ships in Gulf of Oman and in the Red Sea. “Mahanuwara” was chartered on 1st October 2013 and was due to be off-chartered on 31st December, 2014, but could not be done because of the impending Presidential Elections. If this is an illegal ship, would I have kept it inside the port for the whole world to see? I could have taken the ship out to high seas on 9th January and hidden it. I did not have any reason to do it because it is legal. The police investigated this ship on January 16th. That alone shows that there is no veracity in these stories.
We are proud to mention that we became instrumental of setting the standards and benchmark of floating armouries in the world by establishing legality and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). This small country did that. It was possible through the knowledge and expertise of many senior military officers working at Avant Garde. In acknowledgment of our impeccable standards, India sought our advice on 4th Nov 2014 on ways to regulate floating armouries and assure the region does not become a freeway for illegal weapons. All these are documented. It was internationally acknowledged that our floating armoury was the only regulated floating armoury of the world.
It is noteworthy to mention that the reason for certain parties to unreasonably attack me. It was, I who took the initiative to black list two maritime security companies in Sri Lanka which hired Sri Lankan Government owned weapons on forged documents and given to sea marshals. Fortunately, we traced that and stopped in Iranian waters thus preventing the Government of Sri Lanka facing serious consequences with United Nations authorities. We possess all proper documentation to prove that those two maritime security companies in Sri Lanka, sold Sri Lankan government owned weapons to private maritime security companies abroad. If not for my personal involvement I exerted to trace those weapons by spending my personal funds, Sri Lanka would have faced acute embarrassment in front of the world.
Do the weapons in these ships belong to you?
No, they belong to about 270 foreign maritime security companies providing invaluable services to protect commercial ships against Somali piracy”. You may not have understood what we do. What we do is providing facilities. The companies which provide ship protection keep their weapons with us when not in use. We look after them. Maritime security guards embark ships requiring protection against sea piracy. They are issued weapons by those companies. Similarly, disembarkation also occurs. We take over the weapons. That is the service we provide.
Do you have own security personnel?
Yes, we should call them “Ranaviru Personnel” or war heroes. I have employed about 3,500 security personnel who have served in Army, Navy, Air Force and STF. All of them are retired, having served with distinction in operational duties whilst in the service. They have contributed to save the country and retired after 22 years, aged about 42, and what other options do they have? This is their best time. Children of some of them are still schooling. Is the pension alone adequate for them? I employed them to give them additional income and lead a normal life. Each of these ‘Ranaviru’ personnel is paid a minimum of Rs. 100,000/=.
In the past only foreigners did this job. I requested for the opportunity to provide employment to ex-servicemen of Sri Lanka in this industry. Some senior official and military officers laughed at me saying “foreigners will not employ our personnel due to deficiency in English”. I disproved all of them. I took thousand ex-servicemen and trained them. I brought in foreigners to teach them English. After that I deployed them. Then it became successful.
I proved that what is required is not proficiency in English but bravery, commitment and skill. Our boys fought and won. They are brave. They are honest. They are committed. Therefore demand for them increased. Naval personnel in uniform provide security to my ship and in addition account for weapons. That is the legality of the operation. RALL and the Navy supervise it. Our personnel do the work. If by any chance a ship with our personnel is high-jacked and personnel taken hostage, I have given a written pledge that I will personally go to Somali, pay the ransom and release them. No other Chairman of a company has done this. I did it because nobody else could do it. “Nothing is impossible” I learnt when I was in the Commandor Regiment. I have never spoken about something I cannot do. Therefore, I have deposited US$ 1.2 million for payment of ransom.
You first provided security ashore. How did you diversify to Maritime Security?
That is a long story, but will tell you in short. Actually, Somali piracy was initially a threat to fishing trawlers in the Indian Ocean and not to big commercial ships. Abundance of fish in the Indian Ocean attracted many foreign fishermen but because of sea piracy this industry stopped.
Then in 2009, a fishing company asked me to provide security. Nobody in Sri Lanka knew anything about it at that time. I did my homework and understood that it would be lucrative. I trained 9 ex-servicemen and provided protection to 3 fishing boats. Within 5 months I trained 1000 personnel.
Within 3 months the 3 trawlers increased to 14. More companies approached us. I provided security. We were able to repel about 35 high-jacked attempts. Gradually the effectiveness of our boys became well known. The 14 trawlers increased to 195 during a short time. That was 2012. I had 900 people at sea. Remember, I deployed these people to operate about 4000 nautical miles from Sri Lanka. No other country has done this successfully. My operation became a large security provider second only to UN force. All my people were Sri Lankan ‘Ranaviru’ personnel. Therefore I became the number one private Maritime Security Service in the world. Though my county does not recognize this, another country appointed me as a consultant of Maritime Intelligence in recognition of my service. I still hold that position.
How did you start protection to commercial ships?
The same way. I checked what this entails. I was able to go to many countries and learn it. I paid my personal money for it. Sometimes I served in those ships. I learnt some of it through a leading lawyer, qualified from Harvard University. I had a big target in mind. I spent a lot of money but I learnt the stuff. One of the main consultant of my company is the former Navy Commander of Royal Oman Navy, Admiral Salim Al Alawi. He is a graduate about Law of the Sea and maritime regulations.
I requested the Defence Ministry to afford me the opportunity to provide security to commercial ships in a systematic manner. Only foreign companies were doing it by that time. Small operators facilitated this. The Navy and RALL were providing these facilities in a small scale.
Guards from foreign companies used to come to Katunayake Airport and proceed to Galle, but wait for arrival of ships. What everyone was doing was giving them weapons and embarking them on ships.
From where were the weapons?
Our war ended in 2010. Weapons of the Government were in armouries. They created a system to provide these weapons for maritime security within the bounds of state regulations. That was of course a small amount. In addition, there were many private weapons in international waters. Our territorial waters end 12 nautical miles from land, beyond that is high seas. Anybody doing any weapon transactions in this high sea is not subjected to Sri Lankan law. Therefore by 2011 there were 4 floating armouries in international waters off Galle. They provided enough weapons for security companies. What happened those days could be classified as irresponsible, illegal and dangerous gun running. Even illegal weapons were in those four floating armouries.
I verified Nissanka’s story through a senior Naval Officer also. Those days government weapons were legally hired to those Maritime Security companies but they have been re-hired to other companies. Because of this irresponsible transfer, 195 of those weapons were misplaced. The Sri Lanka Government could not locate them.
By this time, because of fishery protection in international waters and travel to about 26 countries regarding maritime security, excellent rapport and understanding developed between UN Maritime Security Council officials and Chairman of Avant Guard. Even the UN Security Council had come to know that weapons belonging to Sri Lanka had been misplaced in the Indian Ocean. The UN checked this from Chairman Avant Garde. Since government did not have a way to check this, the responsibility was vested in Nissanka Senadhipathi. I inquired it from him.
True, they checked from me because that was a serious threat in international waters. They asked me whether I can locate them. My company was the only one which had about 900 security personnel at sea at that time. The Navy also had faith in me. Because of my contact and interest I was able to locate and bring back all these weapons except 14 whilst using about Rs. 26 million of my personal money. The misplacing of these weapons was done by private agents of Sri Lanka. That was a severe embarrassment to Sri Lanka. I corrected it. If I did not do it the UN may have even imposed diplomatic sanctions on us. I have the letter sent by the UN. The trust between the Government, Navy and me were further strengthened. The Navy learnt from me about illegal activities in the high seas that are prejudicial to national security. I am one who told them about the 4 illegal floating armouries. I have a letter of thanks from the Navy to prove it since the Navy was not as present continuously in the high seas as we were.
The trust so developed is the reason for the government to give me approval to conduct Floating Armoury operations in Galle. However it had to be done in collaboration with Sri Lanka Navy and RALL. That is how I came here, undergoing great hardship and having travelled to about 26 countries more than 60 to 70 times a year and once even being remanded in Egypt. Though lot of people told me not to go to Egypt because of the Arab Spring, I went there and to Suez area to learn the trade. I was even arrested and remanded for 3 days. And only after explaining my noble work they released me.
What is the progress now?
Progress is not to me but to the country. Before I took over, the Navy and RALL provided 525 transactions. I improved it to 850. Earlier, the Navy and RALL earned Rs. 80 million. I increased it to Rs. 140 million and contributed to Navy and RALL, monthly. Considering in dollars, it is an increase from US$ 9 million to US$ 30 million. Hence the total earning in these two years had been Rs. 8 billion. Of that, Rs. 3 billion I have paid to the Navy and RALL and this has been documented. That is more than 38%. From the balance Rs. 5 billion, our profit is less than 3%. That amounts to less than Rs. 200 million. We have to spend to charter ships, we have to spend to maintain them, we have to spend for many more things like maintaining offices in many countries, arriving at agreements with other countries like Mauritius, Maldives, Seychelles, Egypt, South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Djibouti. To operate 03 Floating Armouries and to pay salaries we spend approximately USD 1.6 million a month. For two years it cost us 36 million US Dollars which is approximately Rupees 4.8 billion. I spent for these and then give 50% to government through RALL. I have to spend levies of other countries and wages of about 3700 ex-service personnel. Each of these people get over Rs. 100,000/=. Highest pay is Rs. 2.5 million. Isn’t that enough? In short, Navy and RALL have earned about Rs. 3,000 million from us during the last 2 years without the government spending even one cent to bring this foreign exchange. This success is unprecedented. Is it a crime for me to contribute Rs. 3,000 million to government institutions without using a cent of government money? Is that the reason I am attacked personally. 98% of my employees are retired military personnel. They are the real owners of the company. Therefore isn’t this attack against them? Those brave personnel who just left the uniform and working for me. How can they be traitors?
I have paid compensation amounting to Rs Six Million each to the families of 11 people who died at sea doing our job and we have proof of it. In addition, as living expenses I pay Rs. 50,000/= per month, per family, for the lifetime of wife or immediate dependent. I have written evidence of this. Moreover, I have spent over Rs. 200 million for monthly charity and assistance to those who are helpless in society.
According to Nissanka, what has happened thus far at sea had been a great struggle. It is incredible that the majority does not know about this. What he states is that all activities and successes have been totally legal. UN Security Council, industry leaders, Maritime Security companies and foreign countries have accepted that there is nothing illegal. He concluded by stating an interesting incident.
Last year the Commander of the fourth largest Navy in the world, the Indian Navy, Admiral D.K. Joshi attended “Galle Dialogue” in Sri Lanka. He announced that the only regulated floating armoury in the world is the Sri Lankan one at Galle. He said this to an audience comprising of ambassadors of 36 countries and Navy Commanders of 21 countries. UK, USA, Japan, China, Germany were represented. I was very proud about it. Though no one in Sri Lanka praised me, the Indian Navy Commander, with his knowledge and experience mentioned it. I was very happy. But what do our people say? Our people speculate that this is illegal. What we in effect do is betray and embarrass the Indian Navy Commander who has acknowledged in a public forum of our legitimacy. It is like when someone mentions about a decent woman, the son of the woman says “no she is indecent”.
The present government is not disrupting the operation but only conducting an investigation. I am thankful to it. Our country is committed to honour its obligations to the international community and to the United Nations.
I recollect what the late President Premadasa said. “Killing me is ok, but don’t tarnish my character. I am certain that the truth will eventually be victorious”.
I also have to state that killing me is ok, but I ask everyone to protect the name of our Mother Land, the reputation of our Navy and the character of War Heroes.
