India's First Advanced Ocean Research Vessel 'ORV Sagar Manthan' Launched at Kolkata
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Dr Jitendra Singh, Ministry of Earth Sciences, launched ORV Sagar Manthan, India's first advanced Ocean Research Vessel, at a Kolkata shipyard in West Bengal in September 2026. Built at about Rs 840 crore by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) for the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), it comes under Vertical-4 (Deep Ocean Survey and Exploration) of the flagship Deep Ocean Mission. The all-weather, multidisciplinary vessel has a projected service life of 30 years and will replace the 43-year-old ORV Sagar Kanya, procured from Germany in 1983. Commissioning is scheduled for 2028.
The Deep Ocean Mission was approved by the Union Cabinet in June 2021 and includes the Samudrayaan manned submersible Matsya 6000 | NCPOR, established in 1998, is headquartered at Vasco da Gama, Goa | GRSE is a defence PSU shipyard in Kolkata under the Ministry of Defence