Chief of the Naval Staff discusses modalities to deepen cooperation in the “Deep Ocean Mission''

• Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral R. Hari Kumar called on Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh and discussed the modalities to deepen cooperation in ""Deep Ocean Mission"" which is to be the torchbearer of India's ""Blue Economy"".
• The Minister said, ""Deep Ocean Mission"" is designed to explore India’s deep ocean for resources and develop deep-sea technologies for sustainable use of ocean resources. It will have an important bearing on India's future economy, he added.
• Indian Navy is a member of Deep Ocean Council and it will be involved in launching and recovery of Man submersible in deep water, which will be developed under the Deep Ocean Mission.

About

• India’s Deep Ocean Mission will solely focus on studying and exploring the deepwater bodies in our country for undiscovered minerals, stones, living or non-living entities
• Both, man force and robotic machines will be used for the mission
• Resources such as polymetallic manganese nodules, Gas hydrates, hydrothermal sulfides, and cobalt crusts will be explored which are usually located at a depth between 1000 to 5500 meters.
• The project is undertaken by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), under MoES.
• India has been allocated a site of 75,000sq km in the Central Indian Ocean Basin by the International Sea Bed Authority (ISA) for the exploration of polymetallic nodules from the seabed in a 15-year contract.

Components of the Mission

• Development of technologies for deep-sea mining and manned submersible.
• Development of ocean climate change advisory services.
• Technological innovations for sustainable use of marine bio-resources.
• Deep ocean survey and exploration
• Energy production from the ocean and offshore based desalination
• Advanced marine station for ocean biology.

Samudrayaan Project

• The Samudrayaan project is a part of the deep-sea ocean mission under MoES approved in 2021.
• It is India’s first unique manned ocean mission that aims to send men into the deep sea in a submersible vehicle for deep-sea ocean exploration and mining of rare minerals.
• It will send three persons in a manned submersible vehicle MATSYA 6000 to a depth of 6000 meters into the sea for deep underwater studies.

Deep-sea vehicle Matsya:

• Matsya 6000 is the deep-sea vehicle under the Samudrayaan project.
• It will carry three persons underwater for the deep-sea exploration to a depth of 6000 meters.
• It is an indigenously developed manned submersible vehicle by ISRO in collaboration with NIOT.
• It also underwent an initial usage test for man-rated operation in sea trial using Ocean Research Vessel Sagar Nidhi in the Bay of Bengal.
• The underwater vehicle is essential for subsea activities like high-resolution bathymetry, biodiversity assessment, geoscientific observation, salvage operation, engineering support, etc.
• Recently China’s Fendouzhe manned submersible has touched 11000 m in 2020.

Significance of Deep Ocean Mission:

• This mission will promote more growth in exploration and usage of ocean resources for clean energy, drinking water, and subsequently blue economy.
• It is a multi-ministerial, multi-disciplinary program that highlights the developing deep-sea technology, including the development of manned submersible, the acquisition of a research vessel for exploring the ocean, and capacity building in Marine Biology.
• Success of Samudrayaan will make India, the first country among the developing nations to carry out a deep ocean mission.