After the success of the Chandrayaan 3 mission to the moon, Indian scientists are now gearing up to explore the deep ocean.
India will send 3 people under the project Sariyan to a depth of 6000 meters, for which a special submarine is being prepared.
The mission aims to search for deep-sea metals such as cobalt, nickel and manganese while also probing the ocean environment.
The submarine is named Matsya 6000 and has been in development for about 2 years.
The submarine will be first tested in the Bay of Bengal off Chennai coast in early 2024.
It will be a Titan-like submarine that is being developed exclusively for manned deep-sea missions.
It should be noted that Titan is the submarine that was destroyed in June 2023 on its way to the wreckage of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean and hence Indian scientists are closely examining the design of Matsya 6000.
Scientists from India’s National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) are developing the submarine and will define its design, materials, test procedures and standard protocols.
Indian Ministry of Earth Sciences Secretary M Ravichandran said during an interview that the work on the Sariyan mission is underway and it will be tested during the first quarter of 2024 at a depth of 500 meters in the ocean.
The submarine’s photo and other details were shared by India’s Earth Sciences Minister Kiran Rejiju in an X (Twitter) post.
The project is expected to be completed by 2026.
Currently, USA, Russia, Japan, France and China are the countries that have the ability to send such manned missions deep into the sea.
Director of NIOT GA Ramdas said that 2.1 round submarine can carry 3 people.
He said that this submarine has been protected by an 80 mm thick titanium sheet and is capable of withstanding pressure 600 times higher than sea level at a depth of 6,000 meters.
This submarine will be able to travel for 12 to 16 hours at a time while it will have 96 hours of oxygen supply.