ECONOMYNEXT –Sri Lankan authorities are in discussion with the officials of “Dr Fridtj of Nansen” (F. Nansen), a state-of-the-art research vessel, to extend its research time in the Indian Ocean after the island nation’s delay in approving the vessel to conduct Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) marine research, government sources said.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake last month gave special approval for Nansen, a United Nation-flagged research vessel into the island nation’s water to conduct research from July 15-August 20 after repeated requests from the United Nations and FAO.
However, FAO decided to cancel the marine research around Sri Lanka as it did not have the approval on time.
The cancellation of the visit would incur direct losses of over $1 million to Sri Lanka through the FAO and likely to reduce the efficacy of upcoming programming financed by the Green Climate Fund which would heavily rely on the data generated by the F. Nansen,” a UN document has said.
If the current visit is cancelled, another would not be feasible until after 2030. Cancelling the UN research vessel’s visit would deprive the country of critical data essential to the government’s decision making, damaging the prospects for economic development in a key sector of the economy, the UN has said.
“We are in discussion with Nansen directly to have the research at least for two weeks after finishing its scheduled research,” a top government official told EconomyNext.
Madagascar grabbed the FAO research opportunity after Sri Lanka’s delay. The research vessel was originally expected to finish its research in Bangladesh seas after Sri Lanka.
“What Sri Lanka is trying now is to get the Nansen research vessel for two weeks for marine research after Bangladesh,” the government official said.
However, the FAO which is responsible for the research is yet to receive any confirmation from Nansen on extending the research to Sri Lanka, a UN source told EconomyNext.
“The FAO has yet to receive any communication from Nansen on extending the research to Sri Lanka during this trip.”
Sri Lanka’s delay for the UN’s FAO research vessel was due to the government’s delay in formulating standard operating procedures (SOP) to handle foreign research vessels, government officials have said.
Repeated requests from the UN and FAO were rejected by Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry due to lack of SOP in place.
The UN has said the vessel was equipped to support Sri Lanka in the sustainable management of marine ecosystems and aquatic resources, in line with the request expressed by the Sri Lankan government.
Sri Lanka imposed a one-year moratorium over foreign research vessels amid pressure by India and the United States over Chinese vessels coming for research purposes.
Both the US and India have pressed Sri Lanka after two Chinese research vessels came to the island nation within 14 months through October 2023.
The moratorium ended on Dec. 31, 2024, but President Dissanayake government’s cabinet in January decided to appoint a new committee to review the existing SOP and come up with a new SOP to facilitate foreign research ships.
The government appointed the committee to look into the SOP only in mid June amid repeated requests from the UN for Nansen.
The FAO has coordinated the deployment of the “Dr Fridtj of Nansen” vessel to Sri Lanka following a November 2023 request from the previous Sri Lankan government.
Sri Lanka is facing diplomatic challenges in allowing foreign research vessels within its waters due to geopolitical issues related to India and China.
Sri Lanka and China have agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on maritime cooperation amid Indian concerns over Chinese research ships visiting the Indian Ocean.
In April, Sri Lanka signed a Defence Cooperation MOU which said both neighbour countries will exchange information in maritime and other domains on mutual consent without elaborating.
Foreign Minister Herath in January said Sri Lanka does not have to take approval from India or inform the neighbour on visit of any foreign vessels. Government officials have said some previous governments have maintained such practices to maintain better relationships with India. (Colombo/July 22/2025)
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