Colombo, Apr 1 (IANS): A British passenger ship that sank after it was bombed in a Japanese air strike in the World War Two has been raised off the Sri Lanka coast after 75 years, the media reported.

The SS Sagaing, whose passengers and cargo were largely saved back in 1942, was refloated on with the help of a team of divers from Sri Lanka's navy, reports the BBC.

It had been resting about 35ft under the water at Trincomalee harbour.

The salvage operation took several months and was carried out by Sri Lanka's Eastern Naval Command unit.

It required the strengthening of the 452ft long vessel's main structural framework, which began on September 11, 2017, the navy said in a statement on Saturday.

The team of divers also erected an artificial side to the ship in order to seal an area before "dewatering" it to recover lost buoyancy.

Prior to the ship's refloat, the damaged sunken vessel was used as a pier for other naval ships in the harbour.