Sri Lanka rejects NGO proposal to shift TSS
Sri Lanka has firmly put its foot down to a proposal by international Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to shift the country’s shipping route.
The proposal, placed by conservation NGOs at the 80th session of the Maritime Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in London on July 6, was rejected by Capt. Upul Peiris, Director Navigation, representing the Government of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka got support for this rejection from India, China, Egypt, Bangladesh, and Algeria, Ali Sabry, Minister of Foreign Affairs, told the Business Times.
The NGOs said this shipping lane of Dondra’s head to the South Coast is affecting blue whales and it is important to protect whales from being hit by ships.
The separation scheme used to manage traffic called the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) puts vessels on a collision course with endangered whales, they said requesting the IMO to instruct the government to shift this lane further south.
Capt. Peiris, rejected their data, noting that they are not in line with what the government possesses. IMO’s existing rules say that any change in a shipping route should be done in consultation with the coastal member state, upholding its territorial sovereignty, which India and China pointed out in backing Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka proposed to conduct awareness programmes for fishermen near TSS.
The fact that TSS is near the southern coast of the country, in between two major ports – Galle and Hambantota, offers the main requisite for potential maritime business to have ships frequenting the proximity of service ports, industry officials point out.
Maritime expert Admiral D. Dassanayake told the Business Times that the shipping agents and maritime service providers used to serve about 180 ships per day. It has now reduced to 20 ships a day. “During the past two weeks it has reduced owing to the IMO proposal on the shipping lanes. The shipping lines are waiting for the issue to be sorted out,” Admiral Dassanayake said.
There is no credible evidence validated to date in Sri Lanka on the impact of the TSS on whale traffic. There have been only isolated incidents while it has been suggested that moving the TSS will lead to economic and financial impacts to the industry which again will badly affect the struggling economy.
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