Sri Lanka fisheries ministry to launch fuel tracking for 35,000 vessels

Sri Lanka’s Fisheries Ministry says it will streamline fuel distribution for the fishing industry, using online tracking and daily quotas to manage supply for over 35,000 vessels.

“We can view their departure forms online, and based on that data, the Port Statutory Corporation issues the necessary fuel,” Secretary to the Ministry of Fisheries, Aquatic, and Ocean Resources, B K Kolitha Kamal Jinadasa, told repoters.

Under the new framework, the management of fuel differs based on the scale of the fishing operation, he said.

For the country’s 5,000 multi-day fishing boats and 900 ‘Iday’ category vessels that run on diesel, the government is leaning on digitalization.

These vessels are now required to submit an online departure form before setting out to sea, Jinadasa said.

Large multi-day boats consume an average of 8,000 liters per trip, and authorities said these amounts would be provided without reductions at Corporation-owned filling stations to ensure deep-sea operations remain viable.

“We can’t expect them to refuel mid-sea.”

For the smaller-scale sector, which consists of approximately 35,000 one-day boats — 30,000 of which are currently active — the focus is on kerosene. Most of these smaller boats rely on kerosene for propulsion but require petrol to start their engines.

To manage this, the Department has registered 150 specific filling stations across key fishing regions.