Despite the green light, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) research vessel “Dr Fridtjof Nansen” is unlikely to visit Sri Lanka since approval came late, making timely scheduling for the survey here impossible, Daily Mirror learns.
Initially, approval was denied for the research ship due to the delay in formulating standard operating procedures (SOP) to deal with such vessels. However, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake granted approval earlier this week for the ship to arrive here and undertake research activities, including fish stock assessment.
An informed source said that the FAO committed the ship to do survey for Madagascar instead of Sri Lanka because of the delay in granting permission.
Named after the late Norwegian scientist, explorer and humanitarian who pioneered ocean research, the vessel flies the UN flag and is a platform for international cooperation between partner countries, researchers and partner organizations of the Programme.
Equipped with the most recent technology, its mission is to generate scientific knowledge about marine resources and ecosystems that can be used to support science-based decisions for the sustainable management of the ocean.
The current R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen is the third research vessel to bear the same name, owned by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and operated by the Institute of Marine Research (IMR) in Norway. The first vessel was launched in 1974 and served for 19 years. The second vessel was built in 1993 and sailed over 605 000 nautical miles until its retirement in 2016, while the third started operating in 2017.