Recently India’s first manned ocean mission ‘Samudrayaan’ was launched. (Samudrayaan Mission)
A deep water manned submersible named ‘Matsya 8000’ has been designed under the Samudrayaan initiative. It is capable of carrying three persons with an operational capacity of 12 hours and an additional 96 hours in case of emergency.
- It is to be known that under the Deep Ocean Mission, manned submersibles capable of operating in deep water are being developed. The objective of this mission is to develop deep ocean technologies for sustainable use of marine resources.
- The Ministry of Earth Sciences is the nodal ministry to implement the Deep Ocean Mission.
- The system design, sub-components, etc., are reviewed and certified in accordance with the regulations of the International Association of Classification and Certification Societies for manned use of manned submersibles at a depth of 6000 m.
- This unique technology will facilitate deep ocean exploration of resources such as poly-metallic manganese nodules, gas hydrates, hydrothermal sulfides and cobalt crust.
- With the launch of Samudrayaan, India joins the elite group of countries like the United States, Russia, Japan, France and China. They have the capability to conduct manned missions to conduct activities on the sea floor.
Six Major Components of the Deep Ocean Mission
- Developing technologies for deep sea mining and manned submersibles.
- Developing ocean climate change advisory services.
- Technological innovations for the exploration and conservation of deep-sea biodiversity.
- Deep Ocean Survey and Exploration.
- Receiving energy and fresh water from the ocean.
- Advanced Oceanography Station for Ocean Biology.
Source – The Hindu
