Sagar Maitri – 2

As part of the Prime Minister’s policy declaration on Safety And Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) which aims to promote closer co-operation in various socio-economic aspects and improve scientific interaction in Indian Ocean Rim (IOR) countries. As part of this endeavor, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has dispatched its oceanographic research vessel, the INS Sagardhwani on a two-month-long mission.

What is Sagar Maitri?

• Under the auspices of the PM s policy, DRDO is responsible for MAITRI (Marine & Allied Interdisciplinary Training and Research Initiative) .
• The main objectives of the SAGAR MAITRI Mission are to collect data from the entire North Indian Ocean.
• The vessel will mainly focus on the investigation of the Andaman Sea and adjoining seas and will establish a long-term collaboration with the other IOR countries in the field of ocean research and development.
• The other IOR countries covered will be Indonesia, Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, Oman, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
• The program aims to establish a long term scientific collaboration with the aforementioned countries in the field of Ocean Research & Development and data collection with a focus on the Andaman Sea.

INS Sagardhwani

The INS Sagardhwani is custom-built research and exploratory vessel. It has been designed and developed by Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL), Kochi, a top systems laboratory of DRDO. It mainly conducts oceanographic research experiments and spearheads NPOL s oceanic data collection activities.