The Sri Lanka Fisheries Training Institute, and later became National Institute of Fisheries and Nautical Engineering (NIFNE) the forerunner of the Ocean University of Sri Lanka was established at Crow Island, Mattakkuliya, Colombo 15 in 1974. Since then the land where the University was located was owned by the Divisional Secretariat of Colombo.

Following a lengthy procedure and much effort including the surveying of the land by the Sri Lanka Survey Depart犀利士 ment, the current management of the University has succeeded in getting ownership of the land to the Ocean University. This is a significant achievement for the University as lack of land ownership including a survey plan has somewhat hindered the development and expansion of the University.

This achievement will enable the University to expand and flourish into a fully-fledged Marine and Maritime University in the region with the assistance of pipeline project supported by the Korean Government under its KOICA programme.