CHENNAI: For the first time, an indigenous state-of-the-art research vessel will be built by India to assess the abundance of natural resources stockpiled under the seabed. It will be an upgrade of existing research vessel Sagar Nidhi with enhanced operational capabilities, like an in-built weather radar, and powerful seismic equipment that can beam signals upto 300 m below the seabed.
M Ravichandran, secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), told The New Indian Express the new vessel will be ready to sail within two or three years. “A contract will be awarded by March next year. We are finalising the shipyard,” he said.
The total cost of the vessel is estimated to be Rs 1,200 crore, a part of which will be from the Deep Ocean Mission, for which the Central government has allotted Rs 4,077 crore. Ravichandran said the vessel will be the torchbearer in India’s efforts to extend its continental shelf area from 200 nautical miles (nm) to 350 nm. The United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) creates a regime of governance for maritime zones that fall under national jurisdiction - namely the territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf.
A country’s territorial waters extend 12 nm from its coastal baseline and its EEZ up to 200 nm. India has exclusive economic rights to the first 200 nm of its continental shelf — the sloping seabed that forms part of the natural geological prolongation of its landmass. India can lay claim...
Read Full Story: https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2021/oct/31/a-deep-dive-to-assess-indias-subsea-wealth-2377887.html
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