Ceyline Group charters UL flight to repatriate Indian seafarers

Seafarers on board

Ceyline Group, one of the most diversified marine services groups, chartered a SriLankan Airlines flight to Cochin recently to repatriate 120 Indian seafarers who had completed contracts and signed off from ships off the port of Galle. 

Ajith Peiris

Channa Abeygunawardena

Mevan Peiris

Charmini Abeywickrama

Seafarers Boarding

The A321 aircraft carried marine crew from seven international ship management companies.

This was the second SriLankan Airlines flight chartered by Ceyline. The first one was on 20 June, where 50 Indian seafarers were brought to Sri Lanka from Cochin to join ships off the Port of Galle. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has been successfully controlled in Sri Lanka by the efforts and action taken by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the Ministry Of Health, the COVID-19 Task Force and the health fraternity with the assistance of the armed forces in Sri Lanka. 

Sri Lanka was able to come to the aid of the international shipping community by being a safe location for facilitating the change of ships’ crew, which is critical for the safe operation of ships.

This crew change logistics generate income streams for the local shipping agency companies, the ancillary service providers as well as the healthcare and hospitality industries. The mandatory PCR tests are done at local hospitals and the seafarers stay at hotels which have been converted in to secure isolation centres until their respective flights or ships arrive. 

These services all paid for by international shipping companies, thereby generating foreign exchange earnings to the country during these turbulent times. President Rajapaksa approved crew changes to be conducted in Sri Lanka on 1 June. This initiative was spearheaded by Sri Lanka Ports Authority Chairman Gen. (Retd.) Daya Ratnayake. He was quick to identify the need of the international shipping community and the positive impact this operation would have on the Sri Lankan economy. Gen. Ratnayake urged the industry to use this global situation to create more job opportunities for Sri Lankan seafarers. 

“When the President gave his consent to conduct crew changes in Sri Lanka he made a request from the shipping industry that SriLankan Airlines be used for marine crew transfers wherever possible. We thought we will honour that request. Ceyline will continue to support our national carrier despite cost benefits offered by other airlines,” Ceyline Group Chairman Capt. Ajith Peiris said.

“Ceyline is proud to be the first Sri Lankan shipping company to charter the national carrier for marine crew transfers and we hope others too will soon follow suit,” he added.

Crew change logistics and transfer operations at Ceyline is handled by a team which is headed by Mevan Peiris, Capt. Channa Abeygunawardena and Charmini Abeywickrama. 

“The Seafarer Express, our UL chartered flights for marine crew, will soon have weekly services to Singapore, Dubai and India,” Ceyline Group Director Mevan Peiris said. “We have got the support of two leading Shipping Associations in India to make this venture a success. 

“Our sincere gratitude goes to Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage and the members of the COVID-19 Presidential Task Force for streamlining the approval process in Sri Lanka. These flights would not have been possible without the support of Ashok Pathirage and the SriLankan Airlines staff, Capt. Themiya Abeywickrema and the members of the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka and our partners in India,” Peiris added.

Seafarers boarding

UL 1165 Aircraft