'Govt set to augment its fleet of oceanography research vessels'

[ladder]

'Govt set to augment its fleet of oceanography research vessels'

PUNE: Secretary to the ministry of earth sciences (MoES) Shailesh Nayak said here on Tuesday that the government will soon acquire two new oceanography research vessels for carrying out polar research and mineral exploration activities, as part of an exercise to strengthen its fleet of such vessels.

"Of the six existing research ships, we have plans to first replace coastal research vessels, Sagar Purvi and Sagar Paschimi, with new ones and then subsequently replace two other vessels, Sagar Kanya and Sagar Sampada, in a phased manner," Nayak told reporters on the sidelines of an international conference organized by the Ocean Society of India and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM).

"The polar research vessel, which is expected to cost over Rs 900 crore, will be used for six months each at the Arctic and the Antarctic bases. As of now, we have been chartering polar research vessel," he said. India has two research bases at the Antarctic and one in the Arctic.

"The replacement vessels for Sagar Purvi and Sagar Paschimi will cost Rs 100 crore each while the same for Sagar Kanya and Sagar Sampada will cost over Rs 500 crore each. We will be floating tenders for Purvi and Paschimi soon and will appoint consultants to freeze the design for other replacement vessels," Nayak said. "India has already surveyed 60,000km of ocean surface and has collected 2.5 tonne samples for mineral exploration."

A lot of observation and data has been coming from research activities in the Indian Ocean and India has played a key role both individually and as part of joint projects with countries like the United States and Japan. "As part of collaborative projects, we are giving 60 days of ship time (twice a year for 30 days) for servicing and maintenance of the costly observation instruments," Nayak said.

According to IITM director B N Goswami, the ocean observation network has increased in the last few years, along with the understanding of different processes of oceans that influence meteorological aspects as well as vital marine resources and marine life. "Understanding of the ocean has improved our forecasting capabilities, though we still have quite a long way to go in terms of long-range forecast," he said.

Goswami identified the cost involved in extension of ship time services, vandalism of costly observation instruments by fishers and piracy as the major challenges in the study of the ocean. "The ship has to be anchored and the measurement instruments have to be lowered and that is the time when we are most vulnerable to attacks by pirates," he said.

According to Nayak, India has managed to deal with the piracy issue by securing armed protection from the marine force raised by the Central Industrial Security Force and coordinating with the coast guard and the Indian Navy.

'Govt set to augment its fleet of oceanography research vessels' - The Times of India

 

[sorcerer]

Oceanographic Training Center Getting Ready


Oceans play a big role in studying climate change and weather forecasting patterns. Ocean state forecasts are also helping in identifying potential fishing zones, water currents and high waves useful for the Indian Navy, Coast Guard and marine zones across the coastlines.
Following the deadly tsunami more than a decade ago in the Indian Ocean, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO coordinating ocean observations, research and ocean services among the 150-odd member countries gave a clarion call for developing capacity building among stakeholders.
Asia, Africa To Benefit
India, three years ago, had offered to set up manpower training centre for the benefit of countries around the Indian Ocean rim (26 from Asia & Africa) and the Rs. 100-crore International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography (ITCOocean) is getting ready to function from July next here.
Located on the campus of Earth Science System Organisation (ESSO) - Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), also designated as the National Tsunami Early Warning Centre, new buildings to house labs, auditorium and hostels is currently under construction although short-term courses of a week to 10 days had commenced in 2013.
“Courses are for students interested in operational oceanography, staff of oceanographic centres and government departments involved in marine activities as also administrators involved in hazard related warnings and forecasts. We are sending proposals to recruit 13 faculty members so that we can offer diplomas, post-graduate courses and research activities,” explains INCOIS Director S.S.C. Shenoy.
The INCOIS is providing institutional support, expert teaching staff and allowing it to conduct training programmes on its facility. “We have already done more than 19 courses in the last three years and from the next academic year, once we have the buildings ready we can start full-fledged courses in collaboration with the University of Hyderabad”, he says. The ITCOocean has already tied up with Norway’s Nansen Scientific Society and the Research Council for collaborative efforts in teaching modules and research. The new centre intends to help scale up the Indian Ocean Global Observing System (IOGOOS) and International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) besides Tsunami warning.
Chips in B. Muralidhar Rao, Consultant, INCOIS: “Countries want to know more about oceans because of climate change and economic interests in studying the marine resources, understanding monsoons, etc. We need sufficient manpower to interpret the enormous amounts of data generated through the research vessels on the ocean and our observation posts. Our upcoming centre aims to bridge that gap”.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities...ining-centre-getting-ready/article9307847.ece