Laura DiBella, chairman of the US Federal Maritime Commission, and Commissioner Robert J. Harvey will visit Sri Lanka from September 6 to 10, the US Embassy in Colombo announced on Friday.
The visit is intended to advance cooperation on maritime trade, investment and the shipping networks connecting American businesses to markets across the Indo-Pacific, Ada Derana and NewsFirst reported, in near-identical accounts of the same embassy release.
Both are expected to meet senior government officials and maritime sector leaders. DiBella will deliver remarks at the 8th Colombo International Maritime and Logistics Conference, and Harvey will sit on a panel.
It answers an invitation Colombo made in June
The visit closes a loop opened three months ago. A high-level Sri Lankan delegation that travelled to Washington in June met FMC leadership and extended an official invitation to DiBella to come to Colombo, to showcase the country’s role as an Indian Ocean logistics hub.
Neither report published Friday mentions that invitation.
The transhipment argument
US Ambassador Eric Meyer framed the visit around Colombo’s role as a transhipment port rather than a destination.
“Over 80 percent of the containers moving through Colombo continue on to destinations around the world — a remarkable illustration of Sri Lanka’s role at the heart of Indian Ocean shipping,” Meyer said.
He added that secure and efficient shipping “creates opportunities for American businesses, strengthens Sri Lanka’s position as a regional hub, and supports prosperity in both our economies.”
Who is visiting
The Federal Maritime Commission, established in 1961, is the independent US agency that regulates the country’s international ocean transportation system on behalf of exporters, importers and consumers, including policing unfair or deceptive practices in the shipping industry. It is a regulator, not a trade-promotion body.
Both commissioners are recent appointees from Florida, nominated by President Donald Trump in September 2025. DiBella, formerly Florida’s first female Secretary of Commerce, was sworn in on 6 January 2026 and designated chairman later that month. Harvey, a US Navy veteran and former Special Assistant US Attorney, was sworn in on 1 June 2026.
Not reported
Neither outlet named the Sri Lankan officials the delegation will meet, said whether any agreement is expected, or gave the dates of the maritime conference itself. Neither reported whether Sri Lankan port authorities have sought anything specific from the regulator.
