The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Government of India, is building a new Ocean Research Vessel to explore the deep Indian Ocean for rare minerals and metals as part of India’s Deep Ocean Mission.
The new multidisciplinary research vessel will be built by M/s Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) Limited, Kolkata, under the “Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative of the Government of India. The contract was inked between M. M. Subramaniam, head of the Vessel Operation and Management for NCPOR and Cdr. Shantanu Bose, Director of Shipbuilding for GRSE on 16 July 2024 at NCPOR in the presence of Dr. Thamban Meloth, Director of NCPOR and Cdr PK Srivastava, Programme Head, MoES.
The state-of-the-art oceanographic vessel having 89.5m length would be the largest research vessel to be built in an Indian shipyard meant for deep sea exploration. The vessel shall be built at GRSE in 36 months at a contract value of Rs. 839.55 Crores. The vessel will be deployed for undertaking deep-sea scientific surveys and sampling towards the deep ocean mission of the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
The vessel will have a maximum speed of 14 Knots and will be equipped with state-of-the- art laboratories, scientific equipment and facilities. It will be a truly multidisciplinary vessel, covering all areas of oceanography and deep sea mineral exploration, with major facilities like Multibeam Bathymetry System, Multichannel Seismics, various ocean profilers, seabed samplers, onboard analytical systems, and all requisite heavy duty deck machinery.
It will be fitted with a DP2 dynamic positioning system, which will enable very accurate maneuvering and exact location maintenance required for high-precision scientific operations at sea. The vessel is designed for Silent A specifications to minimise the underwater radiated noise.
The vessel will have all-weather capability and capacity to carry 34 scientists at a time and is expected to serve India for the next 30 years. The new ship will be built under the dual Classification of Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) and American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), and will conform to the latest MARPOL (Marine Pallution) standards of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), The construction of this research vessel by GRSE will truly contribute to the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the Government of India, states a press release.
