SAMUDRAYAAN MISSION
India is now set to launch ‘Samudrayaan’ – involving its first manned submersible vehicle called ‘Matsya-6000’, which will descend 6,000 metres into the Bay of Bengal with a three-man crew.
ABOUT SAMUDRAYAAN MISSION
- Samudrayaan Mission is aimed to develop a self-propelled manned submersible to carry three human beings to a water depth of 6,000 meters in the ocean with a suite of scientific sensors and tools for deep ocean exploration.
- The experts will be sent in a manned submersible vehicle called ‘MATSYA 6000’.
- This vehicle is being designed and developed by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
- It has an endurance of 12 hours under normal operation and 96 hours in case of emergency for human safety.
- Manned submersible provides a feel of direct physical presence for researchers and has better intervention capability.
- With the launch of ‘Samudrayaan’ in October 2021, India joined the elite club of nations such as the US, Russia, Japan, France, and China to have niche technology and vehicles to carry out subsea activities.
RELEVANCE FOR INDIA
- India has a unique maritime position, a 7517 km long coastline, which is home to nine coastal states and 1,382 islands.
- The mission aims to boost the Central government’s vision of ‘New India’ that highlights the Blue Economy as one of the ten core dimensions of growth.
- For India, with its three sides surrounded by the oceans and around 30% of the nation’s population living in coastal areas and coastal regions play a major economic factor. It supports fisheries and aquaculture, tourism, livelihoods, and blue trade.
