Samudrayan

Samudrayan is the first manned ocean mission of India. It was launched by the union minister Jitendra Singh in October 2021. With this, India has joined an elite club of countries with under water vehicles to carry out subsea activities. The other elite countries with such vehicles are France, Russia, USA, China and Japan.

About Samudrayan

The Samudrayan mission deploys Matsya 6000 vehicle to carry out the exploration. It will facilitate deep ocean exploration of polymetallic manganese, hydro-thermal sulphides, gas hydrates and cobalt crusts. The mission will also explore ocean resources for clean energy, drinking water and blue economy.

Matsya 6000

It was designed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The Matsya 6000 vehicle is capable of carrying three human beings. It is made of titanium alloy. It has 2.1 metre diameter of space. The vehicle is capable of running underwater for 12 hours. In case of emergency, it is capable of running 96 hours. It is capable of carrying out biodiversity assessment, high-resolution bathymetry, geo-scientific observation, slavage operations, search activities and engineering support. The vehicle will be ready for trials by 2024. The vehicle is to conduct shallow water trials, that is, 500 metre phase by 2022 or 2023. The vehicle includes critical subsystems such as ballast and trim system, low density buoyancy modules, batteries and propulsion system, launching and recovery system and control and communication system.

Certification of Vehicle

The certification of the vehicle for the shallow water trials was done by the International Classification and Certification Agency. The association certified the vehicle based on system design, subcomponents, concept of operation, emergency, failure mode analysis, functionality and integrity. The certification was done along with the Ocean Research Vessel Sagar Nidhi. The Ocean Research Vessel Sagar Nidhi is an ice-strengthened vessel operated by the NIOT. It was built by Italy. The vessel is capable of carrying out oceanographic, meteorological and geo-scientific research. It is operated by diesel. It can last for 45 days. It is utilized in deep sea mining. It can reach 6,000 metres of depth.

Exploration depth

The MATSYA 6000 is capable of reaching a depth of 6,000 metres. On the other hand, the FENDOUZHE is capable of reaching a depth of 11,000 metres. The FENDOUZHE is an undersea submersible vehicle and was developed by China in 2020.