Cargo Vessel sinks due to underwater Explosion at Trincomalee Harbor

(May 10, Trincomalee, Sri Lanka Guardian) A cargo vessel (A 520/ex-MV Invincible) was damaged and sank in an underwater explosion which occurred at the Trincomalee Harbour today (10th May 2008) around 2.15 a.m.

The vessel was berthed at the Ashroff Jetty at the time of the incident and had a skeleton crew on board for routine operational purposes. The crew suffered no casualties and no other properties were damaged due to the explosion.

The old vessel built in 1971 was known as MV Invincible. It was handed over to the Navy by a court order after it had been apprehended and retained by the authorities while it was engaged in smuggling migrants.

According to the DefenceWire, the site run by the Sri Lanka Navy, “this attack, similar to the one today, took place early morning around 2.30am on 22nd March 2008. The Tigers honoured three dead Sea Tigers as the attackers who may have been used as human torpedoes.”

“On this occasion the LTTE has named a unit for carrying out the attack. It is called the Kangai Amaran unit, in honour of the slain Deputy Sea Tiger Leader killed by a Special Forces LRRP team in 2001, barely months before the CFA.”

“MV Invincible renamed A-520, took part in an operation to wipe-out three Sea Tiger vessels near Cocos Island in 2007. Analysts believe that Tigers may have targeted A-520 due to its involvement in the Blue Water operation, which caused much pain and damage to the LTTE at the time”
- Sri Lanka Guardian