Daily News Blog

Sri Lanka seeks US maritime cooperation, invites FMC chair to visit Colombo

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A high-level Sri Lankan delegation has met with US maritime regulators in Washington DC to discuss ocean shipping oversight and invite American officials to visit the island to highlight its position as a central Indian Ocean shipping hub.

The delegation, which visited the United States in June, met with Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) Chair Laura DiBella and the commission’s legal team.

The meeting was set up through Dustin Bickel, the Indo-Pacific coordinator at the US Embassy in Colombo, on the sidelines of the US Forum on Indian Ocean Ports and Supply Chains.

The Sri Lankan group included Deputy Minister Janitha Ruwan Kodithuwakku, Presidential Special Envoy Hanif Yusoof, Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) Chairman Dr. Parakrama Dissanayake, and Shippers Academy CEO Rohan Masakorala, alongside Aritha Wickramasinghe and Shiran Dissanayake.

During the talks, officials discussed how the FMC regulates international ocean transport and manages supply chain reliability.

“The delegation extended an official invitation to Chair DiBella to visit Sri Lanka to showcase the nation’s role as a key Indian Ocean logistics hub,” the statement said.

The visit was part of a US State Department-funded initiative aimed at strengthening trade ties across the Indo-Pacific region.

As part of the tour, the Sri Lankan team also visited the Port of Baltimore. Officials studied automated systems and digital logistics tools to gather insights for modernizing operations at the Port of Colombo.

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