Sagardhwani retraces historic Indian Ocean expedition routes

Research to look at impact of monsoon and human activity on marine resources

INS Sagardhwani.

Marine acoustic research vessel INS Sagardhwani is riding a wave of history that charted the course of oceanographic research in the Indian Ocean.

The Kochi-based ship, operated by the Navy and equipped with eight scientific laboratories, recently joined an international campaign to revisit the first major interdisciplinary ‘International Indian Ocean Exploration (IIOE)’ undertaken by 13 countries with 46 vessels in the 1960s.

Indian Naval Ships

Kistna and

Varuna had taken part in the expedition held under the United Nations.

Kistna , a frigate which was converted for ocean surveys for want of a dedicated vessel for the purpose, had conducted 29 cruises carrying scientists from various organisations, including the then fledgling Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL), a DRDO laboratory which now owns the state-of-the-art

Sagardhwani .

The massive drive also covered a large part of the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, including the coastal seas.

Sagardhwani ’s present cruise retraces certain routes followed by Kistna in its mission that lasted till 1965. Between November 17 and 20, Sagardhwani followed the sixth cruise track of Kistna in the southern Bay of Bengal in 1963.

Commemorative trip

IIOE-2, as the ongoing commemorative expedition is known, is organised by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) under the UN.

It hopes to furthering the scientific community’s understanding of the Indian Ocean biophysical variability in response to monsoon and human activity. A total of 52 nations are taking part in IIOE-2, carrying out oceanographic research in designated areas in the Indian Ocean.

IIOE-1 was a watershed event for ocean research in India, NPOL director S. Kedarnath Shenoy said. “Four Indian vessels, including two small trawlers, from Kochi, had taken part in it. But it triggered the formation of several ocean-based research institutions in India like the NIO, NIOT, INCOIS and NCAOR & ocean studies departments in various universities. The event was among the factors instrumental in rechristening the Indian Naval Physical Laboratory in 1968 to NPOL as we are known today.”

Last week, Mr. Shenoy presided over the commencement of the second edition of IIOE on board Sagardhwani as it was berthed at Port Blair. “The current and future expeditions are important for India thanks to the increasing geostrategic importance of the Andaman and Nicobar islands and the increasing requirement for surveillance of maritime activities in the area,” he said.

Between now and 2020, the DRDO would be carrying out extensive scientific research along four tracks covered by Kistna in the maiden expedition. Rear Admiral RJ Nadkarni, Chief of Staff of the Southern Naval Command that operates Sagardhwani , said that the Navy and the DRDO (NPOL in particular) had a symbiotic partnership in furthering maritime scientific research.

“The research carried out by NPOL scientists on Sagardhwani has been immensely useful in enabling a better understanding of our littoral waters as well as the seabed, which are of vital maritime and security interest to India.”

A monograph on the scientific contributions of Sagardhwani over the past two decades was brought out in August this year, when the ship completed its 200th scientific mission.