Union Minister of State for Science & Technology Jitendra Singh announced that two Indian aquanauts, Raju Ramesh and Cdr. Jatinder Pal Singh (Retd), achieved a historic milestone by diving to depths of 4,025 meters and 5,002 meters in the Atlantic Ocean on August 5 and 6, marking India’s deepest ocean expedition to date. This feat places India among a select group of fewer than six nations capable of such deep-sea exploration.
The dives, conducted aboard the French submersible Nautile in collaboration with IFREMER, France’s marine research institute, were led by a five-member team from the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai. The team, comprising Palaniappan, Dr. D. Sathianarayanan, and G. Harikrishnan, under Dr. Ramesh Sethuraman, gained critical experience in pre-dive preparations, piloting, buoyancy management, sample collection, and acoustic communication protocols during the seven-hour missions.
Addressing the media, Singh hailed the achievement as a prelude to India’s Samudrayan Mission, which aims to deploy three aquanauts to 6,000 meters by 2027 using the indigenously developed MATSYA-6000 submersible. He emphasized that this success, coupled with the recent AXIOM-4 mission to the International Space Station, showcases India’s scientific ambition and progress toward Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a Viksit Bharat. Singh, expressing personal pride in Cdr. Jatinder Pal Singh from Jammu, highlighted the pivotal role of ocean and space exploration in driving India’s economic growth.
The Samudrayan Mission, part of the Deep Ocean Mission, focuses on sustainable harnessing of marine resources. Singh noted India’s 11,098 km coastline and vast Exclusive Economic Zone offer unmatched potential for marine resources, positioning the country to lead in the blue economy. India has also secured a contract with the International Seabed Authority for deep-sea mineral exploration at depths of 4,000 to 5,500 meters.
The MATSYA-6000, a fourth-generation submersible with a 12-hour operational endurance and 96-hour emergency capacity, features advanced systems like a high-density Li-Po battery and emergency escape mechanisms. It completed wet trials at L&T Shipyard, Tamil Nadu, in early 2025 and is slated for 500-meter shallow water trials by 2026, with deep-water tests planned for 2027.
Dr. M. Ravichandran, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, emphasized that the expedition’s insights will advance MATSYA-6000’s development, with milestones including titanium hull testing, subsystem certification, and research vessel augmentation. The Deep Ocean Mission also encompasses deep-sea mining and climate advisory services.
This achievement surpasses previous Indian dives to 3,800 meters and 2,800 meters in 1997 and 2002. Prof. Balaji Ramakrishnan, NIOT Director, and Dr. M.V. Ramana Murthy, Mission Director, joined Singh in celebrating this milestone, underscoring India’s growing leadership in deep-ocean exploration.