Deep Ocean Mission : First Human Underwater Submersible
The Ministry of Earth Sciences recently announced that the country is set to launch its first human underwater submersible (Deep-Sea Manned Vehicle) as part of the Deep Ocean Mission.
- It is a mission-mode project to support the Blue Economy Initiatives of the Government of India.
- It is a high-level multi-ministerial, multidisciplinary programme for a better understanding of the deep sea living and non-living resources of the Indian Ocean.
- It was launched as a Central Sector Scheme with the overall estimated cost of Rs 4,077 crores for two phases of the Mission period during 2021-2026.
- The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) is be the nodal Ministry implementing this multi-institutional mission.
- The mission consists of 6 major components:
- Development of Technologies for Deep Sea Mining and Manned Submersible and Underwater Robotics;
- Development of Ocean Climate Change Advisory Services;
- Technological innovations for exploration and conservation of deep-sea biodiversity;
- Deep Ocean Survey and Exploration;
- Energy and freshwater from the Ocean; and
- Advanced Marine Station for Ocean Biology
- The Samudrayaan project under the Deep Ocean Mission is for the development of a manned submersible to carry three people to a depth of 6000 meters in the ocean with a suite of scientific sensors for ocean exploration and observation.
- The vehicle is called Matsya 6000.
