After India’s successful mission to the Moon (Chandrayaan-3), Indian Scientists are preparing the project Samudrayaan which will send three people 6000 meters underwater in an indigenously made submersible to look for precious metals and minerals such as cobalt, manganese and nickel.
Matsya 6000
The submersible called “Matsya 6000” named after Matsya (the first incarnation of Lord Vishnu i.e., a giant fish) will undergo trials in the Bay of Bengal off the coast of Chennai in early 2024, The scientists are closely looking at its design after the implosion of the Titan which took tourists into the Titanic Wreckage in North Atlantic Ocean in June 2023.
Matsya 6000 Submersible can carry a total of three people i.e., two lying prostrate and one operator will be made up of Titanium Alloy to withstand water pressure. The researchers will communicate through acoustic waves at 6000 meters which is 6km, the pressure will be more than 600 times more than the pressure at the sea level.
It has been designed in such a way that it is capable of operating in the deep sea for 12 hours and can operate for 96 hours in the case of an emergency with all the necessary measures for human safety. The manned submersible is developed by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) and the vehicle is developed for under Rs 4077 crores Deep Ocean Mission
Aim of the Project
Besides looking after nickel, cobalt, manganese, hydrothermal sulphides and gas hydrates, the Matsya will investigate the chemosynthetic biodiversity in the hydrothermal vents and low-temperature methane seeps in the ocean. The secondary aim of the project is to join the league of nations that have pioneered the development of manned submersibles like the US, Russia, Japan, France, and China
The mission is part of the Deep Ocean Mission that will conduct sea trials have been conducting sea trials at 500 metres depth in the first quarter of 2024 said M Ravichandran, the Secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences. The mission is expected to be realized by 2026.
All About Deep Ocean Mission
It is a mission-mode project to support the Blue Economy Initiatives of the Government of India and it is a high-level multi-mineral, multi-disciplinary for a better understanding of the deep-sea levels and nonliving resources from the deep oceans. The Ministry of Earth Sciences will be the nodal ministry implementing this multi-institutional mission. The mission consists of six major components Development of Technologies for Deep Sea Mining and manned submersibles and underwater Robotics.
Development of Ocean Climate Advisory Services and technological innovations for exploration and conversation of the deep-sea biodiversity Deep Ocean Survey and Exploration, energy and freshwater from the ocean and advanced marine station for Ocean Biology.
Deep Ocean Mission and India’s Blue Economy
The three sides of India are surrounded by oceans and 30 per cent of India’s population lives in coastal areas, the ocean is the major economic factor supporting fisheries, aquaculture, livelihood, and blue trade.
According to the Union Minister of Science and Technology, Jitendra Singh believes that technologies developed under the Deep Ocean Mission would help and explore the oceans and harness nonliving resources like energy, freshwater and strategic minerals.
