INS Sagardhwani : Sagar Maitri Mission-4

INS Sagardhwani : Sagar Maitri Mission-4

INS Sagardhwani, an oceanographic research vessel embarked on a two-month long Sagar Maitri (SM) Mission-4 from South Jetty, Southern Naval Command (SNC), Kochi.

• It is a marine acoustic research ship designed and developed by Naval Physical & Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL) of DRDO, Kochi and constructed indigenously by GRSE Ltd.
• It was launched in July 1994.
• The NPOL is involved in studying the ocean environment and other related fields.
• The vessel has been engaging in extensive oceanic observing missions and research for the last 25 years.
• Sagar Maitri is a initiative of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• It supports the broad objective of India’s policy declaration ‘Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR)’ to promote closer cooperation in socio-economic aspects as well as more significant scientific interaction, especially in ocean research among Indian Ocean Rim (IOR) countries.
• Under the aegis of this policy, DRDO initiated a scientific component named ‘MAITRI (Marine and Allied Interdisciplinary Training and Research Initiative)’, which focuses on establishing long-term collaboration with IOR countries in the field of ‘Ocean Research and Development’.
• The missions aim to establish long-term scientific partnerships and collaborations with Oman, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Myanmar the eight IOR countries.
• The current mission (SM-4) plan includes scientific deployments onboard INS Sagardhwani in the Northern Arabian Sea and initiating collaborative research programmes with the Department of Marine Sciences & Fisheries at Sultan Qaboos University, Oman.