VANANGAMAN: Ship on Mercy Mission en route to Sri Lanka?

On May 7 the Mercy Mission ship, “Captain Ali” (IMO: 6619920) set sail from Fos-Sur-Mer, France on the 2nd leg of the “Mercy Mission to Vanni”.

The Sri Lankan Government has not granted ships of any country to ferry aid cargo and this ship too has not been granted authority to act on behalf of Sri Lanka, officials said.

Meanwhile, reports say that the ship Captain Ali is carrying approximately 884 metric tons of food, medicine, and other essential humanitarian relief items destined for the 330,000 Tamil civilians in the Vanni area of Northern Sri Lanka displaced by the war, according to reports.

The “Mercy Mission to Vanni” began the first leg of its journey from the Port of Ipswich, UK on April 20. The Captain Ali has just entered the Red Sea after travelling through the Suez Canal.

An ex-Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) monitor, doctors, and humanitarian workers are traveling with the humanitarian relief on board the Captain Ali.

The ex-SLMM monitor Kristjan Guðmundsson, from Iceland, was an SLMM Naval monitor for one year (2003-2004) in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka. He worked mainly on board Sri Lanka Navy vessels and also with the ‘Sea Tigers’. In 2007, he returned to Sri Lankaand was the “Head of the Liaison Office” in Kilinochchi (LTTE Peace Secretariat Liaison) for six months after which he relocated to Jaffna where he reopened and headed the SLMM Jaffna Office until the SLMM left the country.

Mr. Guðmundsson’s stated role as part of the “Mercy Mission” is to monitor the loading of the ship and the ship’s journey to Sri Lanka in order to ensure that there is total transparency and that the “Mercy Mission” is purely humanitarian, the reports say.

The ship is to sail until it reaches the international waters off the coast of Vanni, Sri Lanka. After gaining permission to enter Sri Lankawaters, Mr. Guðmundsson will also monitor the unloading and distribution of the humanitarian aid.

In addition to the Tamil Diaspora, over 20 Members of the UK Parliament and British celebrities, including Joanna Lumley, have signed a petition to the Government of Sri Lanka and the International Community requesting that the “Mercy Mission” be permitted to deliver its humanitarian cargo to the internally displaced persons.

International recording star and multimedia artist Maya Arulpragasam (M.I.A), also provided the “Mercy Mission” with a statement of support.