India Launches Advanced Indigenous Ocean Research Vessel ORV Sagar Manthan
The Ministry of Earth Sciences has launched India's state-of-the-art Ocean Research Vessel ORV Sagar Manthan (Yard 3041) at the Rishi Bankim Shipyard in Kolkata. The vessel was designed, engineered, and constructed by defense public sector undertaking Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSE) for the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).
Constructed under Vertical-4 (Deep Ocean Survey and Exploration) of the Government of India's flagship Deep Ocean Mission (DOM), the vessel was built at an approximate cost of ₹840 crore. ORV Sagar Manthan is an all-weather, multidisciplinary platform engineered to operate in extreme oceanic environments, including the Southern Ocean, with a projected service life of 30 years.
Technical Capabilities and Research Functions
The vessel features advanced equipment including integrated dynamic positioning, multibeam bathymetry, multichannel seismic systems, sub-bottom profiling, weather radar, drop keels, and deployment facilities for Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV). It will support multidisciplinary exploration along the Indian Ocean mid-oceanic ridges to identify multi-metal hydrothermal sulphide mineralisation, establish environmental baselines, collect upper-air data, and undertake CTD profiling. The vessel is built in full compliance with international regulatory standards under dual-class certification by the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) and the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS).
Project Timeline and Strategic Significance
The project milestones include contract signing in July 2024, first steel cutting on November 29, 2024, keel laying on April 08, 2026, and the recent launch on September 09, 2026. Following the launch, superstructure erection, system integration, and extensive sea trials will proceed before final delivery for commissioning to NCPOR/MoES, which is scheduled for 2028.
Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh highlighted that this vessel represents India's first advanced Ocean Research Vessel built by GRSE, demonstrating the thrust toward Atmanirbharta (self-reliance) emphasized by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The vessel will gradually replace the 43-year-old ORV Sagar Kanya, which was procured from Germany in 1983. Dr. T. Srinivasa Kumar, Secretary of MoES, emphasized that this marks India's policy shift from acquiring research platforms abroad to building them domestically, placing India among select few nations capable of designing and constructing such complex platforms.
The vessel's scientific capabilities include underway swath multibeam surveys, geophysical profiling, atmospheric observations, and water column sampling, which will provide solid data for disaster prevention, environmental measures, and strengthen India's role in global ocean geopolitics.