SLN brings ashore ailing Chinese vessel crew member ; ship not sought permission to enter?

2026-03-29 - 05:04

With the coordination of the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) Colombo, the Sri Lanka Navy facilitated an emergency medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) of a crew member from a Chinese-flagged vessel last Friday (March 27). According to navy.lk, the emergency unfolded as the vessel was transiting approx. 700 nautical miles, adjacent to Sri Lanka’s Search and Rescue Region. Upon receiving an urgent distress call regarding a crew member’s health condition to the MRCC Colombo, the Navy immediately swung into action. As the MRCC Colombo coordinated the vessel’s approach towards the Offshore Patrol Limits (OPL) of Galle, the Navy communicated vital initial medical advice to the ship’s crew and dispatched a naval craft from the Southern Naval Command, to bring the patient. Accordingly, the patient brought ashore on March 27 was referred to a private hospital in Galle for treatment with the coordination of the local agent of the vessel, as arranged by the Navy. Meanwhile, the ”Sunday Times’ has quoted a government source saying that while the Sri Lanka Navy has assisted in bringing to shore an ailing crewmember of a Chinese research vessel anchored in Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the vessel will not be allowed into the country’s territorial waters. The Sunday Times has further said : The Chinese research vessel Shi Yan 6, which is 700 nautical miles off Sri Lanka, had sent a distress signal seeking medical treatment for a crew member suffering from a kidney disease. The Sri Lanka Navy had responded by sending a vessel and picked up the patient near the country’s territorial waters before bringing him to the Galle General Hospital for treatment. From there he was transferred to the National Hospital, Colombo, where he is undergoing treatment. Even though Shi Yan 6 docked at Colombo port in 2023, government sources said there has been no request for it to dock here this time even though the ship remains in the region. Since December 2024 there has been a moratorium on visiting research vessels. However, last week the government granted special permission to the United Nations-flagged research vessel Dr Fridtjof Nansen, operating under the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), to conduct a marine scientific survey in the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The government is also finalising a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for foreign research vessels visiting the country. (Pics : navy.lk)