GRSE launches indigenous vessel for deep-sea research

Why in the News

Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) has launched Sagar Manthan, an indigenously built ocean research vessel for the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR). The Rs 840 crore vessel is being built for the Ministry of Earth Sciences and is expected to be ready for use by early 2028. India’s existing ocean research ships were built abroad, and its polar voyages have run on chartered vessels. The capability being added is therefore the domestic construction of the platform itself, not a new branch of ocean science.

What has actually been launched?

1. The vessel and the builder: Sagar Manthan is an ocean research vessel built at GRSE, the Kolkata based defence shipyard under the Ministry of Defence.
2. The cost and the date: The vessel costs Rs 840 crore and is expected to be ready for use by early 2028.
3. What a launch is: Launch is the stage at which the completed hull enters the water, and outfitting, sea trials and delivery to the user follow it.

Why does an indigenously built research vessel matter?

1. The existing fleet came from abroad: The oceanographic research vessel Sagar Kanya was built in Germany and delivered in 1983, and Sagar Nidhi was built in Italy and delivered in 2008.
2. Polar voyages run on hired ships: Indian Antarctic expeditions have been carried on chartered ice class vessels rather than on an Indian owned polar research ship.
3. The capability stays onshore: Building a scientific platform domestically keeps design, repair and refit capacity inside the country, which shortens the turnaround between expeditions.

Where does the vessel fit in India’s ocean programme?

1. The Deep Ocean Mission: Approved in 2021, the mission is developing the crewed submersible Matsya-6000 under the Samudrayaan project to carry three people to a depth of 6,000 metres.
2. India’s seabed exploration rights: India holds an exploration contract with the International Seabed Authority for polymetallic nodules in the Central Indian Ocean Basin, and a second contract for polymetallic sulphides on the Indian Ocean Ridge, both of which require sustained survey and sampling at sea.

Challenges to India’s deep-sea research capability

1. Programme timelines slip: Deep sea hardware moves from design to sea trials over years, and the science schedule is rebuilt each time a date moves. Eg. The crewed dive under the Samudrayaan project has slipped repeatedly from its original 2022 target.
   The Fix: Publish dated milestones for each mission element and release funding tranches against those milestones rather than against annual budget cycles.
2. Exploration rights do not convert into extraction: A seabed contract permits survey and testing, and commercial recovery waits on an international mining code that has not been adopted. Eg. Negotiations on the seabed mining code at the International Seabed Authority have run for over a decade without a final text.
   The Fix: Use the contract period to build a domestic metallurgical route for processing nodule metals, so capability exists before the code opens extraction.
3. The polar operating window is narrow: A hull without ice strengthening cannot work in polar waters for most of the year, so polar science is compressed into a short season. Eg. Resupply of India’s Antarctic research stations is confined to the austral summer.
   The Fix: Commission a dedicated ice class polar research vessel alongside this platform, rather than treating one research hull as cover for both tropical and polar work.

Conclusion

The hull is in the water and the science is still two years away, since launch is the start of outfitting rather than the end of construction. What the milestone settles is that India can build this class of ship for itself. What it does not settle is the shortage of sea time against a mandate that runs from the Arctic to the Antarctic and across the Indian Ocean seabed. The marker to watch is whether a dedicated ice class polar vessel is sanctioned to sit alongside it, or whether polar expeditions continue on chartered ships after this one is delivered.

Back2Basics

1. What NCPOR is: Set up in 1998 as the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, and renamed the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research in 2018.
2. Status and location: An autonomous institute of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, based at Vasco da Gama in Goa.
3. Mandate: The nodal agency for India’s polar and Southern Ocean research, which plans and executes the annual Antarctic and Arctic expeditions.
4. Stations it runs: Maitri and Bharati in Antarctica, and Himadri at Ny-Alesund in Svalbard in the Arctic.

Matching Previous Year Question

“[2026] Which of the following statements with regard to India’s Deep Ocean Mission is/are correct? 1. It was launched by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Government of India. 2. Matsya-6000 has been designed to carry 3 people for deep sea exploration. 3. Samudrayaan is a project under this mission. (a) 1 only (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 1 and 2 only (d) 1, 2 and 3 ANSWER: (b)”