In a televised discussion, Pramitha Tennakoon, State Minister of Defence, highlighted Sri Lanka’s need to produce 122 electronic navigational charts covering the Sea of Sri Lanka, revealing that only six have been created thus far.

 However, the government has taken steps to finaliSe these charts by mid -2025, he said.

 “Sri Lanka needs a deep water multi beamer and a shallow water multi beamer to produce these charts. If we have one of each, it will take us two years to produce the 122 charts. However, I think we can have two of each machine. So, we think we can finalize the charts within a year to 18 months. We are trying to finalize the charts by mid-2025,” he said.

 The country has continued to neglect the opportunity to earn significant foreign revenue by providing electronic navigational charts to ships that cross the Sea of Sri Lanka every day, the state minister of defence said.Sri Lanka in 2022 took the first steps to become a country that produces these charts, he said.

 Tennakoon said a state institution had been entrusted with producing these electronic navigational charts. However, not a lot of progress had been made, he said.

 However, he said the Sri Lanka Navy had expressed willingness to undertake the task of mapping out an essential map for safe marine navigation for ocean-going ships sailing in Sri Lankan waters. This is one of the busiest sea lanes. Annually, about 45,000 ships cross the sea of Sri Lanka, he said.

 “Most people think these ships should come to our ports for us to make an income. This is not true. When I took over as state minister of defence, officials from the Navy’s hydrography office came to meet me. They showed me how busy the sea of Sri Lanka is and that we can make hundreds of millions of dollars each year by selling electronic navigational charts,” he said.

 Many countries require merchant ships to have these maps on board for safe navigation when they have entered a specific country’s waters, wherever the ships’ destination may be, and pay for the host country’s service, he said.

 Electronic navigational charts are a marine geo-spatial product and service required to be used by international law to ensure the safe navigation of merchant ships.

 Those ships did not necessarily have to enter a country’s seaport, the state minister said.

 ” But they need to use it while sailing in a country’s waters to comply with safety protocols. An electronic navigational chart will measure the water depth, the shape of the seafloor and coastline, the location of possible obstructions and physical features of the sea at the time and help keep maritime transportation moving safely and efficiently in any given region. The map obtains necessary data by surveying with multibeam echosounders. The accuracy of the hydrography map is critically important for many applications to reduce uncertainties while sailing in coastal lines, he said.

“They indicate shoals, rocks and wrecks that could be hazards to navigation. They also collect information on water levels, tides, currents, etc. The maps will indicate the shoreline and square nautical miles of a country’s waters, which are considered critical to navigation. Now, the government has focused on mapping out an indigenous hydrography map to earn foreign currency from the service because it is our business, and we have to claim it,” Tennakoon said.

 Each vessel needs two electronic navigational charts, and as a coastal nation, Sri Lanka also has a responsibility to provide these charts, he said.

 “However, Sri Lanka still relies on paper charts, and some of these are over 100 years old. We need 122 electronic navigational charts to cover the Sea of Sri Lanka. We have only produced six of these charts. Furthermore, we still depend on charts made by the British,” he said

 Tennakoon said that producing those charts was vital for our national security, economic prosperity and sovereignty.  200 million dollars was equal to the total annual turnover of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, he said.

 “Trust in the accuracy of our existing charts is low. All ships are insured. When they travel through areas that are not properly chartered, the insurance premium is higher. If our charts are better, the cost of transporting goods to Sri Lanka by ship will drop.,” he said.

  In January 2023, the President issued a special gazette proclamation to establish a National Hydrographic Office. The state minister said the navy has been called upon for mapping.

 “The national hydrographic bill has been presented and accepted to the cabinet. This was presented to Parliament by the Minister of Justice on 03 October. Now anyone can challenge the bill,” he said. (RK)