French Ambassador to Sri Lanka Rémi Lambert led a delegation to the Eastern Naval Command Headquarters and the Naval and Maritime Academy on 28 September, Hiru News reported.
The visit coincided with a Regional Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) Course with a Focus on Searching Hidden Compartments, run jointly by the Sri Lanka Navy, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Regional Centre for Maritime Studies at General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University.
Who took part
The delegation met Rear Admiral Buddhika Liyanagamage, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy and Commander Eastern Naval Area, and Commodore Nalinda Dissanayake, Commandant of the Naval and Maritime Academy. Liyanagamage took command of the Eastern Naval Area in July.
Discussions covered several matters of mutual interest. The delegation later visited the training programme at the Special Boat Squadron Headquarters Training School and observed practical exercises.
Representatives of the United States Embassy in Sri Lanka, UNODC, the Regional Centre for Maritime Studies and the French Customs Department also observed the session. Navy personnel present included Captain Janaka Gunawardena, Director of the Regional Centre for Maritime Studies at KDU; Captain Dharmasiri Herath, Commandant of the Special Boat Squadron Training School; and Commander Lakmal Weerakkody, Commanding Officer of the Special Boat Squadron.
Why hidden compartments
VBSS is the boarding discipline navies and coast guards use to stop and search vessels at sea. The course’s specific focus on concealed compartments points at the trafficking problem in the waters around Sri Lanka, where narcotics are moved in purpose-built voids aboard fishing craft and cargo vessels.
The presence of French Customs alongside UNODC and the US Embassy reflects how that interdiction work is organised — as a shared regional effort rather than a purely naval one.
A note on sourcing
Hiru is the only newsroom to have reported the visit, and its account carries no attribution beyond the Navy’s own description of the day. Neither the French Embassy nor the Sri Lanka Navy media directorate had published a release on it at the time of writing, and no outcome or agreement is reported.
