Australia to assist Sri Lanka in developing a comprehensive national maritime disaster preparedness mechanism

The Ocean Affairs, Atmosphere & Local weather Change Division of the International Ministry, along with the Excessive Fee of Australia to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, held a multi-stakeholder assembly just lately, to debate worldwide finest practices, utility of Methods Engineering mannequin to work on the imaginative and prescient, mission and wishes of Sri Lanka to ascertain a holistic and state-of-the-art Maritime Security Authority.

The dialogue was carried out to study from the Australian expertise on managing maritime disasters, within the aftermath of the MV-X Press Pearl, which is taken into account because the worst such catastrophe that ended up with polluting the ocean with a cargo containing giant portions of hazardous and noxious supplies, chemical substances and plastic nurdles.

On the 20 Might 2021, MV X-Press Pearl, caught hearth off the coast of Sri Lanka – leaving in its wake an environmental catastrophe that not solely the island, however many littoral states of the Indian Ocean should dwell with for many years. For days it stood burning off the coast of Sri Lanka, plumes of thick darkish smoke that could possibly be seen from miles away. However the X-Press Pearl has now fallen silent, mendacity half sunken off the coast of Sri Lanka, its hull resting on the shallow ocean mattress. However although the flames have now been doused – the issues have solely simply begun. Whereas there have been shipwrecks earlier than, Sri Lanka has by no means confronted one with such toxic cargo.

Chairing the assembly, Actg. Extra Secretary, Ocean Affairs, Atmosphere & Local weather Change, Hasanthi Urugodawatte Dissanayake highlighted that, if there’s to be any upside from this incident, it might be by serving as a catalyst for constructing a extra resilient system to forestall and reply to maritime disasters sooner or later. This implies prioritizing maritime emergency preparedness and administration via growth of a maritime catastrophe preparedness plan, strengthening the institutional foundation for its implementation with satisfactory capability constructing for the employees of related companies.

Excessive Commissioner of Australia to Sri Lanka David Holly acknowledged that, to attain this, a collective initiative by the Authorities of Sri Lanka and its worldwide buddies and companions is required. He expressed his appreciation to the federal government of Sri Lanka and particularly to the International Ministry for coordinating this assembly as such coordination is pivotal to a profitable end result. The Excessive Commissioner went on to state that to make sure that assist is delivered effectively, a mechanism must be setup for accepting and facilitating worldwide help to keep away from overlaps and that key gaps are left unaddressed.

Excessive Commissioner David Holly emphasised additional that Australia’s method to maritime catastrophe preparedness is probably not the very best match for Sri Lanka. Nevertheless, His Excellency acknowledged that the Australian authorities is able to help Sri Lanka in constructing capability to develop probably the most appropriate system for Sri Lanka. The Excessive Commissioner additionally highlighted that having such a maritime catastrophe administration entity in Sri Lanka might serve not solely to handle disasters in Sri Lankan waters and Sri Lanka’s Search and Rescue area, however to behave as a regional centre to enhance different such entities within the Indian Ocean.

Sri Lanka’s necessities for a Maritime Catastrophe Preparedness Mechanism/Authority from a defence viewpoint had been defined by Chief of Workers Sri Lanka Navy Rear Admiral Y. N. Jayarathna, whereas Sri Lanka’s marine environmental conservation necessities had been defined by Chairperson Marine Environmental Safety Authority (MEPA) Dharshani Lahadhapura, Sri Lanka Port’s Authority Harbour Grasp Nirmal Silva delivered a quick presentation on the present wreck elimination strategy of the MV-X Press Pearl.

Australian Excessive Fee Capt. Ian Cain, Defence Adviser introduced a perceptive and informative presentation on the concerns for establishing a maritime catastrophe administration authority in Sri Lanka, utilizing the Methods Engineering method, as thought-about by Australia in establishing of their very own company, the Australian Maritime Security Authority (AMSA). He defined additional that the Australian mannequin might not essentially be the best system for Sri Lanka, however how a Methods Engineering method would be certain that we give attention to ‘wants’ relatively than ‘needs’, which might help us in creating a system based mostly on our present capability and sources.

The International Ministry developed an preliminary working draft for a Maritime Catastrophe Preparedness Mechanism for Sri Lanka in September 2021, and has handed over the method to the Ministry of Ports and Delivery, which heads the Committee established to develop the stated mechanism. The Committee is presently within the strategy of fine-tuning the mechanism along with the related stakeholders. International Ministry can be working with stakeholders to deliver the problem of marine air pollution and rapid restoration to international degree, notably brought on by plastic nurdles.

International Ministry

Colombo