Deep Ocean Mission

Geography glossary

Also called: Samudrayaan · Topic: Mineral Resources of India: Distribution and Conservation · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

The Deep Ocean Mission (DOM) is a mission of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES). It builds technology to explore the deep ocean and to use its living and non-living resources in a sustainable way. Samudrayaan is its crewed part, and its vehicle is the submersible Matsya-6000 [1].

It matters because the deep seabed holds critical minerals such as cobalt, nickel and copper. Critical minerals are minerals a country needs for clean energy, electronics and defence, but whose supply is at risk. India imports most of these, so the DOM is India's main tool for reaching ocean minerals and growing its Blue Economy (all economic activity based on the sea).

Explanation

The mission: approval, cost and purpose

  • The Union Cabinet approved the mission in June 2021. MoES formally launched it on 7 September 2021 [1].
  • Cost: ₹4,077 crore over five years, carried out in phases [1].
  • Why it was needed:
  • India has 7,517 km of coastline, nine coastal states and 1,382 islands, so it has a large sea area to explore [1].
  • India's Vision of New India by 2030 lists the Blue Economy among ten core growth dimensions [1].

  • The UN has named 2021–2030 the "Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development" [1].

  • Goal for minerals: India's nodule-mining technology is meant to support commercial work "once global rules are set by the International Seabed Authority" [1].

The six components (2021)

# Component What it does
1 Deep-sea mining technology and crewed submersible Builds a submersible for 3 people to reach 6,000 m. Also builds an Integrated Mining System to lift nodules from the Central Indian Ocean [1]
2 Ocean climate change advisory services Uses observations and models to forecast climate over seasons to decades [1]
3 Deep-sea biodiversity Bio-prospecting (searching the deep sea for useful plants, animals and microbes) and their sustainable use [1]
4 Deep ocean survey and exploration Finds multi-metal hydrothermal sulphide sites on Indian Ocean mid-ocean ridges [1]
5 Energy and freshwater from the ocean Designs an offshore desalination plant powered by OTEC [1]
6 Advanced Marine Station for Ocean Biology Builds skills in ocean biology and engineering, and turns research into products [1]
  • OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion) makes power from the temperature difference between warm surface water and cold deep water.
  • Desalination removes salt from seawater to make fresh water.
  • A hydrothermal vent is an opening on the seabed that lets out very hot water full of minerals. Sulphide deposits form around these vents.

Samudrayaan and Matsya-6000

  • Samudrayaan is India's first crewed deep-ocean project under the DOM [1].
  • Matsya-6000 is a Human Occupied Vehicle (HOV), which means a submersible that carries people inside it.
  • It moves on its own power and is built to carry 3 people to 6,000 m [1].
  • It is built to work for 12 hours at a time. In an emergency it can keep the crew alive for up to 96 hours [1].

  • Its equipment includes a high-density Li-Po battery, an underwater acoustic telephone, a drop-weight emergency escape system and bio-vests that track the crew's health [1].

  • Who builds it: NIOT (National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai, under MoES) together with VSSC, ISRO [1].

  • The titanium crew sphere is joined by Electron Beam Welding. ISRO's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) developed this process after 700 trials [1].

  • Trials so far:

  • Dry tests across a 500 m operating range [1].
  • Wet trials, with and without crew, at L&T Shipyard, Kattupalli Port, Chennai in January–February 2025 [1].

  • On 5–6 August 2025, NIOT aquanauts Raju Ramesh and Cdr. Jatinder Pal Singh (Retd) dived to 5,000 m in the Atlantic Ocean. They used the French submersible Nautile, run by IFREMER (the French marine research institute). This was India's first dive to this depth [1].

  • Planned timeline (as of August 2025): a shallow-water demonstration up to 500 m by early 2026, deep-water tests by mid-2027, and science missions in 2027–28 [1] (verify current).

Why a 6,000 m reach is enough

  • The ocean floor has its own relief, and each deep-sea mineral forms in a different part of it:
  • Polymetallic nodules (potato-sized lumps rich in manganese, nickel, copper and cobalt) lie on abyssal plains. These are the flat, deep floors of the open ocean, about 4,000–6,000 m deep.
  • Polymetallic sulphides form at mid-ocean ridges. These are underwater mountain chains where two plates move apart and new crust forms.

  • Cobalt-rich crusts form on the slopes and tops of seamounts. These are underwater volcanic mountains that do not reach the surface.

  • With a 6,000 m reach, Matsya-6000 can visit most of the depths where nodules, sulphides and crusts lie.

Where it occurs

  • Who runs it: Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES). Approved in June 2021 and launched on 7 September 2021 [1].
  • Who builds the submersible: NIOT, Chennai, with VSSC, ISRO. Wet trials took place at Kattupalli Port, Chennai [1].
  • Main target areas in the Indian Ocean:
  • Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB): India's ISA nodule contract area (2002) covers 75,000 sq km here. In December 2022, the autonomous underwater vehicle OMe 6000 surveyed this site at 5,271 m from the research vessel Sagar Nidhi. It surveyed 14 sq km and mapped a 1 km × 0.5 km patch in detail [1].
  • Central Indian Ridge and South-West Indian Ridge: India's sulphide exploration contract (2016). This links to DOM component 4.
  • Afanasy-Nikitin seamount, Central Indian Ocean: India's 2024 application for cobalt-rich crusts (verify current).

  • Andaman Sea: over 100 kg of cobalt-rich polymetallic nodules were collected from 1,173 m depth [1].

  • Atlantic Ocean: the August 2025 dive to 5,000 m with IFREMER [1].

Don't confuse with

  • Samudrayaan vs Deep Ocean Mission: Samudrayaan is only the crewed submersible project (Matsya-6000). The DOM is the bigger umbrella mission with six components, including climate, biodiversity and OTEC.
  • Matsya-6000 vs OMe 6000: Matsya-6000 is a Human Occupied Vehicle carrying 3 people. OMe 6000 is an autonomous underwater vehicle with no crew, which surveyed the CIOB at 5,271 m.
  • DOM vs ISA exploration contracts: the DOM builds technology at home. The International Seabed Authority (ISA), the UN body based in Kingston, Jamaica, gives the legal right to explore the "Area" beyond national limits. Commercial mining there must wait for the ISA mining code (the rules for mining, royalties and environmental protection), which is still not settled.
  • DOM vs offshore block auctions: the November 2024 auction of 13 blocks (sand off Kollam, lime mud off Gujarat, nodules and crusts off Andaman and Nicobar) is inside India's own sea zones. It comes under the Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 2002 (amended 2023) of the Ministry of Mines. It is not part of the DOM.

Prelims Hooks

  • Deep Ocean Mission: run by MoES, approved June 2021, ₹4,077 crore over 5 years [1].
  • Matsya-6000: 3 crew, 6,000 m, 12 hours of normal work, 96 hours emergency life support. Built by NIOT with VSSC-ISRO under Samudrayaan [1].
  • Titanium crew sphere joined by Electron Beam Welding, developed by ISRO's LPSC [1].
  • August 2025: Indian aquanauts reached 5,000 m in the Atlantic aboard the French submersible Nautile (IFREMER), not aboard Matsya-6000 [1].
  • The DOM's mining component targets nodules in the Central Indian Ocean. Its exploration component targets hydrothermal sulphides on mid-ocean ridges [1].
  • Trap: OTEC under the DOM is for an offshore desalination plant (freshwater), not just electricity for the grid [1].

Mains Points

  • Strategic and resource need (GS-III): India depends on imports for cobalt, nickel and copper, which it needs for batteries and the energy transition. The DOM (₹4,077 crore) and Matsya-6000 build the technology to reach CIOB nodules, ridge sulphides and seamount crusts. These deposits are a long-term domestic and strategic source of supply [1].
  • Environmental cost and the governance gap: nodules grow only a few millimetres in a million years, so they cannot be replaced. Mining machines scrape away habitats, and sediment plumes (clouds of stirred-up mud) smother deep-sea life. Many countries want a moratorium (a temporary stop) until the ISA mining code is settled. Answers should call for baseline environmental studies and environmental impact assessment before any mining.
  • A wider Blue Economy tool: the DOM is more than a mining programme. Its parts on climate advisory, deep-sea biodiversity, OTEC-based desalination and marine biology link it to climate adaptation, water security and the UN Decade of Ocean Science (2021–2030) [1].

Related concepts

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Sources

  1. 1PIB Backgrounder, "Deep Ocean Mission: India's Gateway to the Ocean Floor" (17 August 2025)static.pib.gov.in · tier 1