A team of experts attached to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the US Department of Commerce and the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (NMOC) has arrived in Sri Lanka to help expand the country’s hydrographic mapping skills.
Experts from the NOAA and the NMOC arrived for a new project with Sri Lankan partners to expand the country’s hydrographic mapping skills, according to US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung.
The Ambassador noted that the collaboration with the US will support Sri Lanka to map its own waters, make commercial shipping lanes safer and strengthen overall maritime domain awareness.
She is of the view that knowing what lies beneath the country’s seabed is vital to protecting maritime sovereignty.
Meanwhile, in a bid to enhance bilateral defence cooperation, the United States and Sri Lanka signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on November 14 at the Ministry of Defence.
US Ambassador Julie Chung and Brigadier General Trenton Gibson, Adjutant General of the Montana National Guard signed the agreement on behalf of the U.S. Government, while the Secretary of Defence Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha (Retd) signed on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka.
The agreement formalises collaboration between the Montana National Guard, U.S. Coast Guard District 13, and the Sri Lanka Armed Forces under the U.S. Department of Defence’s State Partnership Program (SPP), the Defence Ministry said in a statement.
