According to the SLN report on the incident, “the Sri Lanka Navy received credible information on 09th March that a LTTE vessel carrying warlike material was approaching the Mullaitivu coast with the objective of unloading weapons at mid sea onto small boats.” According to SLMM interviews with members of the Eastern Naval Command and the Captain of the SLN vessel; “The suspicious vessel was visibly detected 185 miles from the coastline… …at 06.30 on the 10th March… and … The suspect vessel, which conformed to the intelligence received, was identified around 07.45… …at approximately 185 miles North East of Mullaitivu.” There was radio communications between the vessels. The SLN claims that the information from the LTTE crew on the ship’s cargo, registration and crew was characterized by discrepancies. The SLN also claims that the vessel did not have a national flag or a visible name on the ship and because it did not follow the SLN orders to stop; “The SLN vessel fired warning shots over the bow of the LTTE ship at approximately 09.00-09.30, and subsequently received fire from the LTTE merchant ship. The SLN fired back at the ship using all her weapons… and … the suspect vessel caught fire and became disabled around 10.30.”

At 12.00 the LTTE leadership contacted SLMM and confirmed that an LTTE merchant ship was engaged in a sea incident with the SLN. The LTTE stated to SLMM that; “the ship is sailing in international waters, the SLN has no right to intercept it and we ask SLMM to intervene.” In interviews with SLMM, LTTE later stated that; ”this was a merchant tanker of approximately 700 tons, 8 meters wide and 61 meters long. It had 11 crewmembers, all members of the Sea Tigers, and was operated by an independent shipping company supporting LTTE financially. The ship had a legal cargo of diesel and was sailing in the direction of India . At 11.30 its position was 220 miles East of Trincomalee.” The LTTE has not been able to inform SLMM about the name and registration of the tanker or its port of departure.

The LTTE states that at approximately 14.00 it received a message from the tanker via the LTTE Sea Tigers, that it was “under attack, on fire and sinking.” The SLN states that the LTTE merchant vessel sank 195 miles East of Mullaitivu at 15.09. The sinking of the ship can be seen from the video produced by SLN. However, it still remains unexplained what actually caused the ship to sink.

SLMM Findings
SLMM inquiry team found around 30 fresh bullet marks on the superstructure and bridge of SLNS Sayura, the SLN vessel involved in the incident. SLMM inquiry team also met and questioned three servicemen of the SLNS Sayura, that were wounded in this incident, on their return from sea early morning 11th March. The SLN video taken by a SLN vessel arriving to the scene after 11.00 cannot be considered entirely impartial evidence, as it is taken and produced by one party to the conflict. However, on that video, the front and back of the hull of the LTTE merchant ship can be seen quite clearly. At the time of filming, no flag or name is visible and the same applies to the front of the bridge and the mast of the ship. On the other hand in the intelligence the SLN received on the LTTE merchant ship it is stated that the ships name is MV KOIMAR. The SLN report states “the suspect vessel… … conformed to the intelligence received”. On the SLN video it can also be seen that the LTTE merchant ship had isolated fires on the front deck, in front of the bridge and on the aft, until it sank.

Asked why SLMM was not informed and a monitor called to the scene, the Navy Commander, members of the Eastern Naval Command and the Captain of SLNS Sayura have stated that they did not know it was a LTTE vessel but were only informed about a “suspicious gun running vessel”. This is contradictory to the initial press release from the Ministry of Defence and also the SLN report on the incident, which both state “The SLN received credible information on 09th March that a LTTE vessel carrying warlike material was approaching the Mullaitivu coast”.

The Government of Sri Lanka accuses LTTE of carrying warlike material in a merchant vessel claming that the LTTE has violated paragraph 1.7 in the Ceasefire Agreement. Additionally the Government claims that LTTE has committed a breach of the United Nations Conventions on the Law of the Sea, by neither flying a flag of any state nor displaying any name on the ship. The LTTE accuses the Government of Sri Lanka of engaging in an offensive operation against its commercial ship and thus, committing a breach of paragraph 1.3 in the Ceasefire Agreement. The LTTE claims that the incident happened 220 miles off the East coast and that the Government of Sri Lanka does not have any authority in international waters according to the abovementioned UN convention.