India’s quest to explore the depths of the oceans is taking shape with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) developing a design for a manned submersible for deep sea exploration. Once this new design becomes a reality, India will join the elite class of six countries to have developed deep sea submersible.
The manned submersible, which is part of a 6,500 crore Deep Ocean Mission, is expected to travel to the dark depths of the ocean by 2022. Ministry of Earth Sciences secretary M Rajeevan was quoted in the media as saying that the submersible design has been developed successfully and the fabrication would soon start.
He also said that the technology for designing the sphere of the submersible was complex and titanium would be used for this. Titanium has been used to withstand the high temperature. The design that has been developed would now be sent to an international agency in Germany for certification, he said and added that it would take less than a month to get the certification. Moreover, he also said that the fabrication would take at least a year.
The manned submersible, which is a collaborative effort of ISRO and the National Institute of Ocean technology, is designed to accommodate three members. Apart from this, several agencies have also joined in the mission such as National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology and the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services.
The submarines can travel to a depth of 6,000 metres.
