Harbour trial for 'Samudrayaan' in Mar-Apr likely

PREPARATIONS are on board to realise India's flagship manned deep sea exploration in 2025 in a homemade, world-class, submersible Matsya 6000.'

- BALA CHAUHAN

"The harbour trial for 'Samudrayaan,' a three-member deep sea mission that is scheduled for 2025 will be conducted some time in MarchApril this year in Chennai," National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) director GA Ramadass told this paper.

'Samudrayaan' is an ambitious project of the Ministry of Earth Sciences and is being implemented as part of the ₹4800 crore 'Deep Ocean Mission'. NIOT is an autonomous society under the ministry.

"Following the harbour trial, the NIOT will plan shallow water exploration at a depth of 500 metres under the ocean this year before the final deep sea mission at 6,000 metres some time next year," Ramadass said. The shallow water exploration is being planned in the Bay of Bengal in a steel submersible.