Chinese research ship Shiyan 6 is seen berthed at Colombo harbor, Sri Lanka, on October 26, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

Chinese research vessel Shiyan 6, which arrived in Colombo last week amid concerns raised by India and the United States, is set to begin its two-day research off the Sri Lankan coast today, Sri Lankan authorities said.

The research will be pursued off Sri Lanka’s western coast, and in collaboration with Sri Lanka’s National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) and the University of Ruhuna, according to a spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo. Asked about the nature of research, the spokesperson told The Hindu: “It is marine scientific research.” The Ministry had earlier said the vessel was at the Colombo port for “replenishment”.

Research ship Shiyan 6 was added to China’s fleet of marine research vessels in December 2020. Said to be the country’s first scientific research vessel focusing on geophysical exploration, it is scheduled to operate at sea for about 80 days, with 13 research teams onboard pursuing 28 scientific research projects across 12,000 nautical miles, the state-run China Global Television Network reported in September.

Both, India and the US raised concern over the vessel’s visit, as the two countries had done in the past, around earlier visits of Chinese vessels. Sri Lankan media reported that the issue also came up in talks held by President Ranil Wickremesinghe in Beijing earlier this month.  

In September this year, ‘INS Delhi’, India’s first indigenously built destroyer undertook a goodwill visit to Sri Lanka. Last week, ‘ROKS Gwanggaeto the Great’ of the Korean Navy and more recently, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) destroyer AKEBONO (DD 108) arrived at the Trincomalee harbour, located on Sri Lanka’s north-eastern coast, on an official visit.

Following India, the U.S. has raised concerns over the scheduled visit of a Chinese research vessel to Sri Lanka in October. File phot of the main port in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Following India, the U.S. has raised concern with the Ranil Wickremesinghe administration, over the scheduled visit of a Chinese research vessel to Sri Lanka in October, Colombo-based media has reported.

In a recent meeting with Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland took up the coming visit of Chinese research vessel Shi Yan 6 to Sri Lanka, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported on Monday. Reportedly, Mr. Sabry reassured the American official that Colombo would adhere to a “Standard Operating Procedure” that the government has recently finalised, for all foreign vessels intending to call at a Sri Lankan port.

New Delhi had recently raised the matter with a top Sri Lankan official, Colombo-based sources told The Hindu.

While Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence has made its recommendation on the vessel’s visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, an official comment from the Foreign Ministry is awaited. According to local media, defence authorities have cleared the visit.

Earlier this month, China’s state-run news channel CGTN reported that “Chinese geophysical scientific research vessel Shiyan 6” or (Experiment 6) was heading out on an “expeditionary voyage” in the eastern area of the Indian Ocean, departing from Guangzhou, south China’s Guangdong Province. “Organised by the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology (SCSIO) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the vessel is scheduled to operate at sea for 80 days with 28 scientific research projects from 13 research teams onboard, covering a range of more than 12,000 nautical miles (roughly 22,200 km),” it said.

Strong reservation

Sri Lanka’s National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA), said to be a partner in the vessel’s research activities in Sri Lankan waters, earlier stated that the data collected during the process would be in its possession. The research vessel’s scheduled visit will come months after another Chinese warship docked at the Colombo port for a few days. The visits assume significance after Chinese military ship Yuan Wang 5 arrived at Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port in August last year, despite India and the U.S. expressing strong reservation at the time. China maintained that it was “completely unjustified for certain countries to cite the so-called ‘security concerns’ to pressure Sri Lanka”.

Colombo’s decision to allow the visit last year — after deferring it by five days — strained diplomatic ties with New Delhi, at a time when India extended unprecedented economic relief to the island nation that was experiencing its worst financial meltdown. Subsequently, President Wickremesinghe and top officials form the Sri Lankan side repeatedly sought to reassure India that Sri Lanka will ensure that its territory is not used for any activity that could threaten India’s security interests in the region.

Meanwhile, the High Commission of India in Colombo recently organised a curtain raiser to the Global Maritime India Summit (GMIS) to be held in India from October 17 to 19, 2023 in Mumbai. Sri Lanka’s Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva, who was Chief Guest at the event, emphasised the importance of “close collaboration, exchange of knowledge and adaptation of new technology for growth of the maritime sector”, according to a statement from the Indian mission.