India’s deep-sea submersible Matsya 6000
- Category
Science & Technology
- Published
14th Sep, 2023
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Context
The government recently shared images of India’s Matsya 6000 submersible on social media.
About
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.
Only five nations – France, the US, China, Russia and Japan – have thus far created man submersibles.
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