India's deep-sea drone carries out first ever exploration of hydrothermal vents in South Indian Ocean

The deep sea field was located at a depth of 4,500 metres in the Central and South West Indian Ridges of the Southern Indian Ocean.

A team of scientists led by Dr NR Ramesh from the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) have successfully carried out the high-resolution deep-sea exploration and imaging at a hydrothermal sulphide field in the Indian Ocean.

In a post on X, NIOT, which comes under the ministry of earth sciences (MoES), said that it is the first ever exploration of this kind at these specific sites.

High Resolution Deep Sea Exploration and Imaging at 4500 m depth of Hydrothermal sulphides field at the Central and South West Indian Ridges in Southern Indian Ocean was done successfully, by the team of Scientists [NIOT & NCPOR] led by Dr.N.R.Ramesh, Scientist-G, NIOT during pic.twitter.com/K3k6YFJ6tn
MoES NIOT (@MoesNiot) December 16, 2024

It posted several images of the active hydrothermal vent area, saying that the exploration was done using Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV)-Ocean Mineral Explorer-OMe 6000 of NIOT-MoES. The deep sea field was located at a depth of 4,500 metres in the Central and South West Indian Ridges of the Southern Indian Ocean. India has a unique maritime position with a 7,517 km coastline along nine mainland states and 1,382 islands.

The expedition was conducted onboard 'Sagar Nidhi', which is India's third ocean research vessel. A hydrothermal sulphide field is an underwater area where hot, mineral-rich fluids from the Earth's crust interact with seawater, depositing sulphide minerals, often forming ecosystems around deep-sea vents.

These fields are important because they support unique ecosystems with diverse marine life, play a role in the Earth's geochemical cycles and are potential sources of valuable minerals like copper, gold and silver.

The findings from this mission will likely contribute to ongoing discussions about marine resource management and conservation efforts in one of the world's least explored environments.  The upcoming Samudrayaan Mission is set to go to the depth of 6000 metres below sea level. While explaining the aim of the Samudrayaan mission last year, the ministry called it a “self-propelled manned submersible to carry three human beings to a water depth of 6,000 metres in the ocean with a suite of scientific sensors and tools for deep ocean exploration”.

The Centre approved the Deep Ocean Mission at a total budget of Rs 4,077 crore for five years. The estimated cost for the first phase for the three years (2021-24) is Rs 2,823.4 crore, according to government data.

“India will be in a position to commission its deep-sea mission by the end of next year, science and technology minister Jitendra Singh said  while addressing the ‘States’ Policy Conclave 2024’.

He also said by the end of next year, or maybe in 2026, “we will have the first Indian in space”. Simultaneously, a crew will be sent to the seabed, 6,000 meters deep, which is possibly the maximum depth of the sea, Singh told a press conference.