Indian authorities along the Kerala coast remain on high alert for an oil spill, pollution and debris following the capsizing of a Liberian-flagged container vessel, MSC ELSA 3, 38 nautical miles off the coast of Kochi on Saturday. India mobilised large Naval and Coast Guard forces to assist in rescuing the crew and contain any risk of pollution.  

The incident is a bleak reminder for Sri Lanka about past incidents which the island had to deal with. In the recent past, Sri Lanka has had to deal with two major maritime incidents, where two commercial vessels caught fire off the island’s coast, and one sank in the Colombo anchorage, triggering what many experts believe is the nation’s largest marine pollution incident. MT New Diamond, Panamanian flagged a very large crude carrier (VLCC) caught fire in September 2020, off the western coast of Sri Lanka. The resulting rescue/firefighting efforts saw control of the vessel regained, and towed to harbour, but not before it leaked a yet to be determined volume of diesel and bunker oil leaving a large oil patch off the coast. In 2021, the Singapore flagged container ship MV X-Press Pearl operated by X-Press Feeders, called into Colombo anchorage while dealing with a fire on board, which later escalade and despite efforts to tow in to high-seas, caught ablaze and sank in the anchorage, releasing tons of toxic chemicals and large volumes of plastic nurdles which continue to pollute a majority of the islands coast, and has even been found washed ashore in the Maldives and further away in the Indian Ocean. Both incidents, and their management, or elements of mismanagement has left Sri Lanka scared, yet little tangible action has been taken to address the shortcomings. Both incidents highlighted moments of poor governance, outdated regulatory processes, lack of synergy amongst responders and regulators, gaps in capacity and capabilities. However, while much has been said and written about since the two incidents, little has been done to address the regulatory, capacity and capabilities gaps.

Sri Lanka, as an island nation in the Indian Ocean, comprises about 1,340 km coastline (mainland) and an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) which is about seven times the size of our landmass. Sri Lanka is also responsible for a wider Search and Rescue Region (SAR), for which we are the first responder in line with international law but holds no sovereign claims. Over the past four decades, Sri Lanka has stated that it aspires to be a maritime trade hub and a regional services hub, leveraging our strategic location off one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. Sri Lanka is also dependent on the ocean for its main source of protein, export of fish produce, and tourism. The oceans may well-hidden other resources like minerals and renewable energy which Sri Lanka can harvest someday. The oceans (and lately the cyber domain) are Sri Lanka’s frontier, and main scope of national security.

One of the capability and capacity gaps which had been identified earlier on, and was glaringly evident during two abovementioned crises, was the lack of sea going firefighting capacity and the lack of a purpose designed and built pollution control-salvage vessel in Sri Lanka’s toolbox. The absence of reputed international salvours based either at Colombo Port or at the new Port in Hambantota is also indicative of poor policy and State action in the maritime sector by successive governments. Both incidents also highlighted the need for Sri Lanka and the region to work collaboratively and improve capacity to prevent, reduce, respond and mitigate the impact of such large-scale pollution incidents in the Indian Ocean. 

With one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes set south of the island, Sri Lanka’s vulnerability to marine pollution cannot be understated. It is a critical area which deserves the Government’s attention and action. 

The Sri Lanka Coast Guard has been seeking funding to acquire a purpose-built high-capacity pollution control firefighting vessel since 2020. However, state budgetary prioritising has sunk the idea even before it took off the drawing board. The experience of MT New Diamond and MV X-Press Pearl has given adequate reasons and a reality check about the gaps in our capabilities to prevent crises, and to mitigate their impact. It is now time for Sri Lanka to learn from the bitter experiences and ensure we are not caught with our ‘pants down’ again.