Facilities of Information Fusion Centre at Navy Headquarters expanded

The official handing over of Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) equipment to the Information Fusion Centre (IFC - Colombo) established at Navy Headquarters was held with the distinguished presence of the Ambassador of Japan to Sri Lanka, HE Mizukoshi Hideaki and Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne today (25th March 2022).

Sri Lanka comprises a 1340 km coastline with 510,000 km2 Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and Search and Rescue Region (SAR) which is about 27 times of landmass. Further, a large number of ships passes through the southern tip of Sri Lanka, in the Indian Ocean. In this backdrop, Sri Lanka has a bounden responsibility to ensure maritime security of this vast ocean region.

IFC Colombo facilitates cooperation collaboration and sharing of maritime information between local and international stakeholders to enhance Maritime Domain Awareness. The provision of MDA equipment came about as part of the Global Maritime Crime Programme (GMCP) of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), through the sponsorship of the Government of Japan. Meanwhile, the IFC Colombo will be able to improve its operational efficiency, with the introduction of this new set of equipment.

On the sidelines of the receipt of MDA equipment, the launching of the official website of the IFC Colombo (https://www.ifccolombo.org) was also held under the auspices of Commander of the Navy at the Information Fusion Centre today.

Chief of Staff of the Navy, Rear Admiral YN Jayarathne, Director General Operations, Rear Admiral Prasanna Mahawithana, senior naval officers from Navy Headquarters, Defence Attaché at the Embassy of Japan, Captain Fukaura Gaku, Programme Coordinator at United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Ms Pernille Rasmussen and a group of officials were present on this occasion.