Lanka not informed over FAO vessel's research decision: Foreign Minister

Sri Lanka government is yet to be officially informed over United Nation-flagged research vessel's decision on not doing the planned research due to approval delay from the island nation's government, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said.

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Sources from the Foreign and Fisheries Ministries say the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has informed that the research vessel “Dr Fridtjof Nansen” will not come to Sri Lanka research purposes because Sri Lanka delayed the approval as it has delayed to formulate standard operating procedures (SOP) to handle foreign research vessels.

Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath, however, said the government is “not officially informed”.

UN sources say Sri Lanka’s research opportunity is now given to Madagascar.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake gave special approval for the research vessel after repeated requests from the UN.

The approval for the UN’s research vessel was not given due to the government's delay in formulating standard operating procedures (SOP) to handle foreign research vessels.

Sources aware of the research vessel ghave told the Economy Next that the "Dr Fridtjof Nansen (F. Nansen), a state-of-the-art vessel was expected to conduct research involved with fish stock and the health of marine ecosystems in the Sri Lankan water.