Chinese ‘research vessel’ Shin Yan 6 docks at Colombo Port amid India’s security concerns

Chinese Shin Yan 6—which India claims it to be a spy vessel—arrived at the Port of Colombo on Wednesday (Oct 25).A spokesperson from the Sri Lanka foreign ministry told AFP news agency that the vessel had been authorised to dock in the city, where a Chinese state-owned company operates a deep-sea container terminal.

“Clearance was given for the vessel to come to Colombo for replenishment,” the spokesman was quoted as saying by AFP.

The 90-metre (300-foot) vessel was seen entering the port of Colombo on Wednesday evening.

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Vessel for research purposes

The Chinese callthe Shi Yan 6 a "scientific research vessel" with a crew of 60 to conduct oceanography, geology and marine ecology tests.

According to Chinese officials, their primary objective is to carry out an extensive survey encompassing both the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the island nation and the region of the southern Indian Ocean.

However, India believes that the research ship is actually a spy vessel in disguise meant to snoop on Indian military assets based in the southern region bordering Sri Lanka and Andaman and Nicobar islands, which serves as the base for the Indian Air Force and the Navy.

Earlier, the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA)—the apex institute charged with responsibility for carrying out research—said that the China’s Shi Yan 6 will be reaching Sri Lanka as per an agreement reached with the University of Ruhuna.

India's concerns

Later, the University of Ruhuna announced that it has decided to step away from the research program that was to take place with the Chinese scientific research vessel.

The University of Ruhuna announced that one of the two university lecturers who represented the university in agreeing to conduct joint research with the Shi Yan 6 had migrated overseas, and the other lecturer had stepped away from the country's university systemcompletely.

It comes a year after India expressed concerns over a similar port call by Chinese research vessel Yuan Wang 5, which specialises in spacecraft tracking. But New Delhi believed it to be a spy ship.

It docked in Hambantota, a port in Sri Lanka's south under a 99-year lease to the Chinese company that built it after Colombo was unable to service a $1.4 billion loan taken for the project.

(With inputs from agencies)