Vardhan dedicates coastal research vehicle ‘Sagar Anveshika’ to nation

The new vessel will help the scientific exploration of the Indian ocean and explore the country to explore our marine wealth. Expressing satisfaction over the launch of Sagar Anveshika under the Make in India concept, the minister said that the new vessel can assist from 25 to 30 marine scientists on board and has been equipped with advanced labs.

The new vessels will help National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) to read the cyclonic effects and the department can also explore the marine organisms and ocean as a source of energy. The NIOT has now started giving advanced cyclonic alerts due to such vessels.

Cyclones are predicted at least two weeks in advance and this helps the centre and states to take up adequate disaster management measures. A lot of lives are being saved with the help of early cyclonic warnings and real-time information on cyclones, weather conditions are passed without any delay. Weather forecasting capacity of India has increased by several folds.

According to NIOT sources, the centre has funded a sum of Rs 99.5 crores to develop two vessels the already launched “Sagar Tara” and “Sagar Anveshika”.

Both the vessels have advanced scientific equipment and the latest navigational equipment for the role of measuring oceanographic and atmospheric parameters. These ships will be utilised for shallow water operations, surface water quality monitoring, shallow water testing of various underwater components, Tsunami early warning systems and other deep-sea technology developments.

These vessels can also help in monitoring illegal drug movements in the sea. NIOT and Chennai Port trust officials took part in the event.