Kolkata-based GRSE launches indigenous ocean research vessel 'Sagar Manthan'
Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSE) launched the Ocean Research Vessel (ORV) Sagar Manthan at its Rishi Bankim Shipyard in Kolkata
The vessel is being built for the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, at an approximate cost of ₹840 crore
It is expected to be ready for operational use by early 2028
The vessel is designed as an all-weather, multidisciplinary research platform capable of operating in extreme oceanic environments, including the Southern Ocean
Deep Ocean Mission (DOM)
The Deep Ocean Mission is a Government of India programme under the Ministry of Earth Sciences aimed at exploring the deep ocean for resources and developing deep-sea technologies, in line with the Blue Economy priorities identified in the EXIM Policy and the Union Budget. It was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in 2021.
Key Details
- Approved cost: approximately ₹4,077 crore over five years, implemented in phases (first phase 2021–2024: ₹2,823.4 crore)
- Six thematic verticals, including a manned submersible (Samudrayaan) rated to 6,000 m depth, deep-sea mining technology, ocean climate change advisory services, deep-sea biodiversity exploration, ocean-thermal-energy-driven desalination, and an advanced marine station for ocean biology
- Nodal implementing agency: Ministry of Earth Sciences, with technical execution through NCPOR and the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT)
- Union Budget 2025-26 allocated ₹600 crore specifically to the Mission (Samudrayaan component)
Sagar Manthan is a survey and exploration platform built specifically to support DOM's deep-sea mineral and biodiversity exploration verticals, extending India's indigenous research fleet beyond the ageing, foreign-built vessels it currently operates.
National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR)
NCPOR is India's nodal research institution for polar (Arctic and Antarctic) and ocean research, functioning as an autonomous Research and Development institution under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
Key Details
- Established on 25 May 1998, originally as the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR); renamed NCPOR in 2018
- Headquartered in Vasco da Gama, Goa
- Coordinates India's Antarctic stations (Maitri and Bharati) and Arctic research station (Himadri, Svalbard, Norway)
- Manages India's Southern Ocean and Indian Ocean scientific expeditions and India's polar/ocean research fleet
Sagar Manthan is being built as NCPOR's dedicated ocean research vessel, expanding the institution's capacity for deep-sea and Southern Ocean expeditions independent of chartered foreign vessels.
GRSE as a Defence Public Sector Shipbuilder
Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSE) is a Mini-Ratna Category-I Defence Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Defence, based in Kolkata, primarily known for warship construction for the Indian Navy and Coast Guard.
Key Details
- One of India's oldest shipyards, with a legacy dating to the 19th century, nationalised in 1960
- Builds a mix of naval combatants (frigates, corvettes) and, increasingly, specialised research and support vessels
- Sagar Manthan's construction at GRSE's Rishi Bankim Shipyard demonstrates diversification of a defence shipbuilder into scientific/civilian vessel categories under Atmanirbhar Bharat
The vessel's construction by a defence PSU rather than a commercial or foreign yard is presented as part of India's push to indigenise specialised, technically complex vessel categories beyond warships.
India's Deep-Sea Mineral Exploration Rights under UNCLOS/ISA
India holds exploration licences from the International Seabed Authority (ISA) — the body established under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to regulate mineral-related activities in the international seabed area ("the Area") beyond national jurisdiction.
Key Details
- India signed a 15-year contract with the ISA in 2016 for exploration of polymetallic sulphides over a 10,000 sq km area along the Central Indian Ridge (CIR) and Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR), approved by the Union Cabinet on 15 June 2016
- India separately holds an older (2002) polymetallic nodules exploration contract in the Central Indian Ocean Basin
- Vessels like Sagar Manthan, equipped with multibeam bathymetry, sub-bottom profiling, and ROV/AUV deployment systems, are used to survey these licensed areas and establish environmental baselines required by the ISA
Sagar Manthan's stated research applications — including multi-metal hydrothermal sulphide mineralisation surveys along Indian Ocean mid-oceanic ridges — map directly onto India's existing ISA exploration contract areas.
- Launch date: 10 September 2026, Rishi Bankim Shipyard, Kolkata
- Approximate cost: ₹840 crore; expected ready for use by early 2028
- Dimensions: 89.5 m long, 18.8 m wide; displacement about 5,900 tonnes; speed 14 knots
- Service life: 30 years; dual classification by Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) and American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)
- Survey capability: multibeam bathymetry and multichannel seismic systems, sub-bottom profiling, ROV/AUV deployment, survey depths to 6 km
- Client: National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Ministry of Earth Sciences
- Will eventually replace ORV Sagar Kanya, in service since 1983 (Germany-built)