India’s deep-sea submersible Matsya 6000

The government recently shared images of India’s Matsya 6000 submersible on social media.

What is Matsya 6000?

• The Matsya 6000 is a three-person submersible that will be able to go 6,000 metres under the sea.
• Meaning ‘fish’ in Hindi, the vessel is being developed by Chennai’s National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT).
• Made of 80mm-thick titanium alloy, it will be able to withstand a pressure 600 times greater than that at sea level.
  • All research missions globally rely on titanium
• The Matsya 6000 will be able to operate from 12 to 16 hours straight and will have an oxygen supply of 96 hours.
• It will feature the ultra short baseline acoustic positioning system (USBL).
  • This will allow the mothership carrying the transponder to send information and the submersible to respond.
  • This will let the mothership know where the submersible is.
• It will likely undergo trials in 2024 in the Bay of Bengal.
• It is part of India’s Samudrayaan project to explore the deep sea. The Samudrayaan project is part of India’s Rs 4,077-crore Deep Ocean Mission.