• This is the final part of a two-part series. The first part was published in the 18 December issue of ‘The Daily Morning’

This Part II and the final of the series will be focusing on the seabed of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of this island state. The EEZ extends to 200 Nautical Miles from the baseline and this island nation’s Base points and Baselines are gazetted under No 2363/72 dated 22 December 2023. Thus, the island nation enjoys the maximum of 200 nautical miles distance allowed under the provisions in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) only in the Eastern and Southern sea area, where the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) demarcated under the four (4) agreements in 1974 and in 1976 limits our EEZ in the Northern and Western sea area. 

The IMBL is finalised on equal distance basis thus neither India nor Sri Lanka stands to lose sea areas in these sectors. The UNCLOS grants exclusive rights for all the living and non-living resources within the EEZ, thus the water column, seabed, and the subsoil thereon the seabed is under the exclusive rights of this coastal State. No other country is allowed to undertake marine research activities within the EEZ without the consent of the coastal State. This makes any marine science research done for exploration or exploitation to be carried out with the approval and participation of the local partners. 

The narrow Continental shelf is unique to Sri Lanka thereby the presence of deep-water area in Eastern Southern, and Western seaboards makes a vibrant seabed due to this geological formation.

As explained in the first part, the sediment rich BoB present the seabed of resources of one of a kind whilst the undersea features of seamounts and ridgelines presents another type of seabed resources. Despite the deep depths of waters, the seabed, and the layers below, hides opportunities thus far unknown. This is the reason why countries engage in marine science research as such involve studies of the water column, seabed, and layers beneath the seabed to understand what lay for sustainable exploration and exploitations. Naturally, the seamounts take high precedence due to the high-end mineral formation taking place due to volcanic activities, whilst the sediment rich backdrop unveils wider scopes of potential benefits. 

India, through its dedicated marine science research institutions has extensively researched in the waters of their interest and many of these research findings are available to be pursued online as scientific papers. The dedicated Ministry of Earth Science is formed to look after the interest encompassing the oceans and is today a world leader of reputation. The Union State invests in these marine science research whilst the Indian Navy also has structured their capacities to meet the national objectives. The uniqueness of these marine science research is that whilst the studies of the water columns are mostly shared, as the movement of water in a seamless environment is a relevancy for all coastal States, the studies of the seabed are mostly to oneself, as they hold the key for economic developments.

The seabed of deeper waters at the boundary line of the Continental shelf creates a phenomenon called ‘upwelling’ where the sea currents due to the steep slopes of the continental shelf make upward movement to the surface creating a blending of nutrients and properties. The good example is the upwelling taking place year-around just south of Mirissa to Matara in our Southern coastline, making the area frequented by whales due to availability of their nutrients. The geological features make this an opportunity for pods of whales to be present and feed whilst bringing multiple choices to the coastal State on how best to manage it. It is not only the minerals or resources on the seabed, but also the features of the seabed that brings financial and economic benefits to an island State such as Sri Lanka. The more the understanding of these features, more will be the managerial plans for explorations and exploitation of these in a sustainable manner. The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) under 14 categories are designed for this purpose and the UN’s decade of Marine Science leading to the Seabed 2030 is meant to be implemented by coastal States for their own benefits. 

Moving down to Sri Lanka’s Southern coast further down towards the equator it is a seemingly flat seabed as per available data but could be having isolated seamounts which are yet to be spotted and tagged. The GEBCO Gazetteer hints on several rises on the seabed other than the Comorin Ridge (towards Southwest of Galle) falling within Sri Lanka’s EEZ. Furthermore, there are several significant rises from the seabed toward the western edge of Sri Lanka’s EEZ and these all point out the need for explorations the State need to invest on to make the commitments under SEABED 2030 more meaningful. The Area (seabed outside the national jurisdiction and coming under the purview of the International Seabed Authority based in Jamaica) is coming under detailed surveys these days due to the strategic competition among the global players and the writer is of the view that it is for common good, where much focus and investment is taking place.

Moving closer to the seabed resources within the Territorial Sea, the accumulation of sand is a significant feature for this island State. All sand deposited at seabed has originated from the land, and Sri Lanka have a high ‘run-off,’ making the sand deposits significant in comparison to the region. For example, the Gulf of Mannar is not fed by significant rivers from the Indian Tamil Nadu coastline, but it is the Sri Lanka’s rivers most notably the Kelani and Maha Oya that bring this sand to be accumulated in the Sri Lanka’s western coastline with offshore currents taking the fine sand to be trapped at the Admas Bridge. These sands have showcased the industrial potentials as both Colombo South Harbour extension and the Financial City were made using the sand reclamation. Otherwise, these would demand earth soil, transported through already congested roadways necessitating scrapping the hills and farmlands that itself would create unprecedented ecological impact. It is to be noted that not all countries enjoy this availability of sand on seabed at these quantities making an untapped resource pool on seabed within our visible distances from the coastline.

The seabed closer to shoreline have several features such as undersea canyons, the most famous being the Trincomalee canyon created through the natural process of millions of years of outflow of the Mahaweli River to the Koddiyar Bay. Similar ‘canyons’ of much lower scale and depths are available in Galle, thereby making freak-waves from time to time and making high destruction in the case of Tsunami. A closer and detailed understanding of the seabed is necessary not only for the economic benefits but also for disaster preparedness. Although some of the resources in the form of sands at the coastline have its association with the seabed, the writer is of the view of explaining these for the general awareness of the islanders. The sand accumulated in Potuvil to Kalmunai area in the eastern shoreline is a natural process of the sand transfer through the along-shore currents from the Southern sea area. Thus, the run-off from Kumbukkan Oya get deposited as sand from ‘Muhudu-Maha Viharaya’ of the Potuvil Arugam Bay northern side all along to the Kalmunai area. The same sand deposits are visible on seabed in the adjacent sea area off Sangamankanda where ripples of sands on seabed are very visible as ‘faults’ in echo-sounders.

For interpolating and interpretation of the seabed resources high resolution data is a necessity and to penetrate the seabed to see what is there underneath, one need seismic data. The Data acquisition today is a commercial business of high yield where a number of private companies are engaged world over. The instruments and equipment used for these data acquisition today is plug-and-play type, meaning that existing vessels can be used for the purposes based on their operational performances. This is why most navies around the world has stepped up their technical capacities to survey and acquire oceanic data during their passages. The vessels dedicated to marine research are identified as Research Vessels (RV) and are engaged in oceanic surveys either with the consent of State parties within the EEZ or in high seas, the common seas. Research Vessels making port calls is not unusual as all vessels engaged in prolonged research at sea need replenishments, as they are not Naval Vessels. The Naval Vessels, on the other hand are made to sustain themselves for a prolonged period and will be making port calls on pre-arranged protocols. Therefore, as Islanders the writer is of the opinion that the policy makers and decision makers need to be more maritime educated to understand the differences as well as reap the best out of the global, multi or bi lateral collaborative marine research to ensure the island State develop its understanding better on the seabed and the marine resources within the jurisdiction.   

(The writer is the Former Chief Hydrographer of the Navy and the Joint Chief Hydrographer of the Government with over 25 years of hydrographic experiences and practice. He has been consulted by the UN and foreign Universities for Maritime Security/Affairs and has chaired the North Indian Ocean Hydrographic Commission)

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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication