Navy chief meets S&T Minister to discuss Deep Ocean Mission modalities

New Delhi, Jan 21 (IANS) Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral R. Hari Kumar on Friday called on Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Jitendra Singh to discuss the modalities to deepen cooperation in 'Deep Ocean Mission,' which, the government claimed, is to be the torchbearer of India's 'Blue Economy'.

"The '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," Singh said.

The Indian Navy is a member of Deep Ocean Council, and it will be involved in launching and recovery of 'Manned submersible' in deep water, which will be developed under the Deep Ocean Mission.

The Ministry of Earth Sciences and the Indian Navy are to soon sign a MoU for knowledge sharing in the areas of design and development of underwater vehicles, a release from the Ministry of Science & Technology said.

Jitendra Singh informed that the preliminary design of the manned submersible MATSYA 6000 is complete, and realisation of vehicle has started with various organization including Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) and Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) roped-in to support the development. It is designed to carry three people to a depth of 6,000 metres in the ocean with a suite of scientific sensors and tools.

Dr Jitendra Singh launched India's First Manned Ocean Mission Samudrayaan at Chennai in October, last year and thus joined the elite club of nations such as the US, Russia, Japan, France, and China to have such underwater vehicles for carrying out sub-sea activities.

The Minister informed that this niche technology shall facilitate Ministry of Earth Sciences, MoES in carrying out deep ocean exploration of the non-living resources such as polymetallic manganese nodules, gas hydrates, hydro-thermal sulphides, and cobalt crusts, located at a depth between 1,000 and 5,500 metres.

The government had approved the Deep Ocean Mission in June 2021 to be implemented by the Ministry of Earth Sciences at a total budget of Rs 4,077 crore for five years. This Mission is a multi-ministerial, multi-disciplinary programme with emphasis on development of deep-sea technology, the release added.