INS Shakti carries 100 ton oxygen from Vishakapatnam, reaches Sri Lanka to fight COVID

On Sunday, August 22, Indian Naval Vessel INS Shakti touched base at the Sri Lankan capital Colombo with a 100 ton of oxygen as part of India's commitment to supporting Sri Lanka to fight against COVID-19. The ship had sailed from the city of Visakhapatnam to Sri Lanka on August 19.

"With 'wishes' and 'goodwill' from India"

The Indian High Commission in Colombo said that the Indian Navy Ship Shakti reached Sri Lanka with 'wishes' and 'goodwill' from the people of India to the people of the Island country adding that more oxygen consignments are scheduled to arrive from India.

Aligned with the Government of India's ongoing commitment to support Sri Lanka in the fight against COVID-19, INS Shakti sailed from Visakhapatnam to complete its operation Samudra Setu-II.

India's commitment to Srilankan call

Notably, the deployment of the vessel was in response to a personal appeal for support by the Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for an immediate supply of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO). Samudra Setu-II, an initiative of the Indian Navy is dedicated to undertaking immediate shipments of Liquid Medical Oxygen containers and related medical pieces of equipment to various countries.

COVID situation in Sri Lanka 

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has imposed a nationwide curfew due to an escalation in COVID cases. The Sri Lankan Government imposed a ten-day nationwide quarantine curfew from 10 pm Friday, August 20th until 4 am Monday, August 30. The Government Information Department reported 3,884 new COVID cases as of Saturday. 

INS Shakti 

INS Shakti, built by Fincantieri, an Italian shipbuilding company, is a Deepak-class fleet tanker in service with the Indian Navy. She is the second and final ship of her class. Shakti, along with her predecessor Deepak, is one of the largest ships of the Indian Navy. Construction of the vessel began in November 2009 and it was launched in October 2010. She was handed over to India by September 2011 and started its operations on 1 October 2011. The construction of the vessel was completed in a record time of 27 months, after the contract worth €159.32 million was signed in April 2008. Interestingly, INS Shakti can refuel four ships at a time, with a fuelling speed of 1,500 tonnes per hour while her predecessors had a speed of 300 per hour. She is also equipped with state-of-the-art electronics, medical facilities and storage spaces. The ship has taken part in several operations representing the Indian Navy.

Senior former Admiral Nirmal Verma had earlier stated that INS Shakti had significantly added to the Indian Navy's ability to conduct and sustain operations distant from the coast.