(COLOMBO) – The Sri Lankan authorities are planning to promote the registration of foreign ships under the country’s national flag aimed at giving a boost to the local economy while at the same time providing employment opportunities in the maritime sector.
The Cabinet of Ministers this week approved the proposal towards this end made by the Minister of Ports and Shipping Nimal Siripala de Silva and Expressions of Interest (EOI) will be called for interested persons or groups in this regard, according to officials.
They said the move is also aimed at fostering economic growth and providing employment opportunities in the global maritime industry.
The loaning of the country’s national flag to foreign vessels is also described in maritime circles as the ‘Flags of Convenience’ (FOC) or even the ‘Flags of Shame’, says the President of the National Union of Seafarers Sri Lanka (NUSS) Palitha Atukorale.
He said that the Sri Lankan national flag has already been rented out to more than 50 foreign vessels in exchange for a fee for over the past several decades and therefore it is not a new practice.
“The Minister is only endorsing what is in practice at the moment. Sri Lanka is among dozens of other countries mainly from the developing world that have loaned out its national flag for economic purposes”, he said.
The fees for hiring the flag depends on the size of the vessel, the bona fide of the owning company, the maritime route and the nature of the cargo among other elements, Atukorale added.
Leading shipping companies mainly in the developed world opt to register under foreign flags of a Third Would country as to simply avoid huge overheads charged in their respective countries, according to Atukorale.
The NUSS is a maritime trade union that works towards the interests of Sri Lankan Seafarers and is also an affiliate of the International Transport workers’ Federation (ITF) that is headquartered in the United Kingdom.
