• Sri Lanka needs to show clarity and consistency in policy and in action
• SLNHO charts 8 Electronic Navigation Charts, brings $ 100,000 in revenue for State, another 55 ENC to be charted covering SL waters and EEZ
• Capacity building underway, with SLN to receive multi-beam sonar next month

Sri Lanka is an important coastal state in the Indian Ocean with vast maritime interests and hydrography is a part of ensuring the island nation’s national interests and connectivity and that our international obligations are met.

However, the national cognition on maritime activities, sciences, and trends are weak and the affinity for ocean-related matters remains woefully underdeveloped for a country which has rights and claims over a significant ocean domain.

As an island nation dependent on the Indian Ocean and sea trade for connectivity, economic growth, wealth, energy security, and food security, it is high time that Sri Lanka’s political leadership wakes up to the potential, challenges, opportunities, and risks which come with our vast ocean domain and recognises the need for a robust sovereign understanding and capacity to survey, map, and control our ocean domain.

Following growing geopolitical concern regarding the lack of accountability and transparency in how Sri Lanka has carried out its sovereign hydrography work over the last three decades (especially regarding collaborative survey and research carried out), a new act was introduced last year (National Hydrographic Act No.7 of 2024) and it was envisaged that Sri Lanka would streamline its national approach, capacity build, and improve its sovereign capacity. It also aims to ensure security of sensitive bathymetric data collected from Sri Lankan waters.  

With the act, the Sri Lanka National Hydrographic Office (SLNHO) was established. Sri Lanka also moved to enact a year-long moratorium in January 2023 on foreign Marine Scientific Research (MSR), introduced a tougher regulatory framework through an updated Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on granting permission for foreign MSR survey requests, and moved to review dozens of MOUs and agreements Sri Lankan State agencies and academia had entered into with foreign entities for compliance with national interest.

This came in the wake of multiple surveys by several Chinese MSR vessels being carried out with increasing frequency, while there was no clarity or accountability on what the research data was used for or who had access and control of the sensitive data. India, the US, and other countries, which are concerned about increased Chinese naval and submarine activity in the Indian Ocean, have questioned Sri Lanka about the matter and exerted diplomatic pressure to address their concerns.

Credibility and urgency of clarity

With a new Government at the helm and the incumbent President completing his first two foreign visits – to New Delhi, India and Beijing, People’s Republic of China – the international arena is closely watching Sri Lanka and will judge its sovereignty and the credibility of its stated foreign policy stances by its actions on hydrography and the regulation of MSR. Sri Lanka must ensure that there is clarity and policy consistency on this sensitive geopolitical matter, which will have serious implications if mismanaged.

President Anura Kumara Dissnayake in New Delhi reiterated Sri Lanka’s stated position of not permitting its territory to be used in any manner inimical to the security of India as well as towards regional stability. The joint statement by both nations also said that they plan to “foster cooperation in hydrography”.

However, the National People’s Power (NPP) Government, weeks after the New Delhi visit, moved to scrap the year-long moratorium on foreign MSR vessels surveying in Sri Lankan waters and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) on 31 December 2024, and declared that it would draft new National Policy on MSR activity, adding that a new SOP would be also developed in line with it. This, even though Sri Lanka has updated its SOP and introduced a new one in late 2023/early 2024.

Last week, during his visit to Beijing, President Dissanayake and Chinese President Xi Jinping issued a joint statement which said: “The two sides share the desire to continue maritime cooperation on the basis of equality, mutual trust, openness, and mutual benefit, and hold regular bilateral consultations on maritime affairs. The two sides are ready to deepen cooperation in such fields as conservation and restoration of the marine environment and ecosystems, maritime domain awareness, maritime rescue and disaster relief, and maritime personnel training and capacity building, and pool their strength to build a maritime community with a shared future. The two sides agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Ocean Cooperation toward Blue Partnership.”

Given that the Government has undertaken the path it has, it would be prudent to move quickly to streamline the national hydrography agenda, move for sovereign capacity building, and be transparent in our work to avoid misunderstandings which can be detrimental to the island’s national interests.

Improving capacity 

A key area in which Sri Lanka needs to improve its understanding and sovereign capacity to act in its national interest lies in the importance of improving national hydrography capacity.

According to the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) which Sri Lanka is a member of, hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes, and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the primary purpose of safety of navigation and in support of all other marine activities, including economic development, security and defence, scientific research, and environmental protection.

Hydrography is vital for safe navigation at sea which ensures maritime trade, which Sri Lanka is dependent on.

In addition to supporting safe and efficient navigation of ships, hydrography underpins almost every other activity associated with the sea, including resource exploitation – fishing, minerals, environmental protection, management of maritime boundary delimitation, disaster preparation, modelling, coastal management, tourism, and marine science. As such, sound understanding of the need for and importance of hydrography at all levels of Government and in policymaking is of vital importance for Sri Lanka to chart its future, especially during these times of economic crisis.

Having accurate and up-to-date hydrographic information as a coastal state is Sri Lanka’s obligation under the 1974 SOLAS Convention. Sri Lanka is duty bound to provide updated and precise navigation information to mariners passing its waters. This is vital for the safe navigation of the major sea lines of communications, on which Sri Lanka is today dependent.

However, most sea charts covering Sri Lankan waters are not up to date and are based on old information, thus endangering safe navigation.

History, legislation, and status quo

Traditionally hydrography has been the domain of the navies of respective countries, with many having dedicated hydrography vessels and qualified specialists in their ranks to carry out routine surveys and cartography.  

Sri Lanka’s history with hydrography begins in colonial times, with the authority on conducting hydrographic surveying within Sri Lanka waters having been vested with the Royal Ceylon Navy and later transferred to the Sri Lanka Navy once the island became a republic. 

However, this responsibility had been temporarily assigned to the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) in 1983, owing to difficulties experienced in sparing naval personnel amidst the protracted internal conflict that prevailed. Further, a grant from a European country to improve hydrography capacity with new equipment had come with terms which restricted military involvement in the project. This too had played a role in the then Government’s decision to temporarily vest the responsibility with NARA.

According to the SLNHO, through the amended NARA Act of 1996, the management of hydrographic surveying and nautical charting has been assigned to NARA. Later, NARA entered into an MOU with the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) to provide bathymetric data for chart production and distribution, while retaining the primary charting authority with the UKHO.

It is learnt that due to this agreement, Sri Lanka only receives a limited royalty from nautical charts published internationally. Every major vessel which navigates through the Sri Lankan EEZ and waters or calls on Sri Lankan ports must have up-to-date sea charts in accordance with international law. Since recently, the UKHO, which is the pioneering distributor of charts, has gone digital, with plans afoot to convert completely to digital charts (Electronic Navigational Charts – ENCs) by 2028.

Senior Government officials close to the matter told The Sunday Morning on terms of anonymity that due to NARA’s poor performance of duty over several decades, multiple sea charts which were vital for navigation in Sri Lankan waters remained dependent on hydrographic data which was more than 70 years old.

“As a result, the mariners using Sri Lankan harbours and passing close to other passages of convenience around Sri Lanka were compelled to pay relatively high insurance premiums, indirectly adding an additional cost to our imports and exports. Surveying of waters of our jurisdiction and updating of national charts should have been an established priority for a country like Sri Lanka which is competing with neighbouring countries to maintain maritime hub status in South Asia. Unfortunately, the relevant authorities’ and successive governments’ attention on this very sensitive and important issue had been lethargic or non-existent,” the official charged.

A senior defence official who was part of the process to review dozens of MOUs through which NARA and Sri Lankan academia had carried out joint research surveys in Sri Lankan waters with the aid of foreign entities, including some of the Chinese MSR vessels, told The Sunday Morning that the ‘so-called’ researchers at NARA and some universities had migrated to new pastures, taking with them the complete datasets from the joint research.

“This is blatantly acting in self-interest and there is foreign influence at play here too. These fellows have left no research data, there are no reports of the outcomes and no publications or even raw datasets in some cases. Some data which is available can only be opened and read with specialist software from those respective countries, which we have no access to. The entire matter has been mismanaged, with little concern or consideration for national interest and security implications,” the official charged, adding that some of the specialised equipment donated to NARA for hydrography by foreign donors had been left unused for decades and had become inoperative.

Attempts to contact the NARA leadership regarding the allegations and what had become of research data and reports which were to be completed based on joint research failed.

SLNHO and progress

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, National Hydrographic Council (NHC) Chairman Rear Admiral (Retd) Sisira Jayakody underscored the national and security importance of the data collected by hydrography, pointing out that the Navy had historically been entrusted with the task. 

“The Navy already has a system in place for hydrography; it has trained specialist hydrographers and cartographers and it is a matter of deputising them to the relevant task. It is cost effective and secure. Since this is an international affair, as we need to work with other countries on our sea boundaries, the Navy has already established the practice of networking and communication with them, so they are ideally placed to handle the responsibility. This has to be done diligently, especially for a coastal state, under our SOLAS obligation.”

Commenting on the safety of the sensitive data, Jayakody said: “Under the new act, under which the SLNHO was established, the sensitive data will be disseminated only on a need-to-know basis and will be made available through an effective and accountable manner. About the data that was collected or acquired by NARA, we do not know where the data is. Some people who worked at NARA have vanished with the data from their research, so it was clear that for some people the data had become personal property, not national property. It has been highlighted several times that NARA does not have the data from some of the research done.”

He said that the SLNHO had revived hydrography surveys and was updating sea charts. 

Commenting on international support for capacity building, Jayakody said that Sri Lanka had to also show that it was capable of carrying out surveys by itself and making sure that charts were kept up to date.

Commenting on the future of hydrography, Jayakody pointed out that since the legal mandate had now been established and the SLNHO was building steam, those within the State apparatus, particularly some elements within NARA, should not try to sabotage the national effort for personal gain. 

“I don’t want to point fingers at the organisation, but there are a few people, a minority, who want to disrupt this process for personal gain. This is a matter of national interest; it should not be made a personal issue. Today, we have specialised human resources with well-qualified hydrographers and cartographers moving forward with our capacity building plan. When we get more specialised kits, we can expedite the long-delayed updating of our charts. More than ever, now we need Government understanding and backing to get this done.”

Former Chief of Staff and Chief Hydrographer of the Navy and Joint Chief Hydrographer to the Government Rear Admiral (Retd) Y.N. Jayarathna, commenting on sovereign capacity and credibility, pointed out that since Sri Lanka had enacted new legislation and sought assistance from foreign countries for capacity building, it should move quickly, giving due priority to hydrography and ocean sciences and show progress and accountability.

Sea charts and revenue

When contacted, the SLNHO told The Sunday Morning that since it had commenced operations, it had produced a total of eight ENCs, which were now available for mariners in the international market. 

The latest ENC completed was the ‘Galle Harbour Chart’ released to the market on 31 October 2024. The eight developed ENCs have already earned the State over $ 100,000 in revenue, while total earnings have reached approximately $ 180,000 for the Treasury with the inclusion of SLNHO consultancies for local projects.

According to the SLNHO, it is currently working on productions of nearly a dozen more ENCs. Priority had been given to chart harbours and harbour approaches, with ENCs for Colombo Port, the Galle Harbour, Hambantota Port, and Kankesanthurai Port being completed. A survey of the Trincomalee Harbour and bay is currently being planned, with a survey for the approaches to Norochcholai Coal Power Plant also in the planning stage.

The SLNHO stated that it had grid classed (scale bands) Sri Lanka’s territorial waters and EEZ into 122 blocks, which it planned to survey to create 122 ENCs. Of the 122, 63 grids which cover the southern coast and the main shipping lane south of Dondra Point will be surveyed as a priority in the future. With the 122 grids’ data needing annual updating, Sri Lanka stands to earn millions of dollars through the SLNHO if properly resourced and managed.

The SLNHO, which has access to nearly 40 International Hydrographic Organization CAT-A and CAT-B certified hydrographers and cartographers and over 120 certified survey recorders, plans to expand and expedite survey activities with the planned induction of new high-tech survey equipment later this year and in the coming years.

It is reliably learnt that an Indian Ocean country has gifted Sri Lanka an advanced towed multibeam echo-sounder, which is to be inducted into service next month. Countries like India, Japan, Australia, and the US have discussed capacity building with Sri Lanka, with Japan pledging a specialised vessel, which is to be built in Japan for Sri Lankan use in the future.