Sri Lanka’s maritime security threats outpacing institutional capacity, experts warn
Sri Lanka is faced with threats in the maritime security landscape evolving faster than the capacity of its institutions tasked with responding to them, researcher at a Colombo-based think tank has said.
Shayan Peris, Research/Programme Officer of the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS) has drawn attention to the widening capability-action gap confronting Sri Lanka.
While Sri Lanka is responsible for securing an EEZ of approximately 517,000 km², besides ensuring maritime domain awareness, it faces increasingly complex challenges ranging from trafficking and illegal fishing to cyber threats and marine pollution, RCSS said in a statement.
“Maritime governance remains fragmented across multiple agencies with little inter-agency coordination, maritime surveillance and enforcement capabilities are limited, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) regards research vessels are yet to be finalized, and critical gaps persist in areas such as intelligence fusion, environmental response preparedness, and cyber-maritime contingency planning,” Peris said.
He was speaking at a presentation at The Asia Foundation on ‘Sri Lanka’s evolving maritime security landscape and the growing range of non-traditional security challenges emerging across the Indian Ocean Region’.
The presentation examined the challenges of transnational crime, illegal fishing, environmental degradation, maritime governance gaps, and emerging technological threats shaping Sri Lanka’s maritime domain.
It highlighted key issues including maritime drug trafficking, trade-based money laundering, IUU fishing, marine pollution incidents, as well as the growing strategic implications of cyber threats, submarine cable vulnerabilities, unmanned systems, and AI-driven maritime technologies.
It also explored potential entry points for policy engagement and regional cooperation in areas such as maritime environmental governance, fisheries governance reform, coastal community resilience, and maritime policy dialogue facilitation.
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