RACE TO THE BOTTOM
DEPTH RATING ACHIEVED BY OTHER NATIONS
FRANCE
6,500
JAPAN
6,500
RUSSIA
6,000
AUSTRALIA
11,000
USA
10,925
CHINA
10,909 M
PROJECT STATUS (NOV. 2021):
Personnel sphere being designed by NIOT Chennai in association with ISRO
The titanium cabin sphere, the life support systems, the vehicle frame and the control systems are being developed indigenously
a research vessel in the mid-Indian Ocean, three Indian scientists will board a yellow titanium submersible called the . This 25-tonne vessel, named after Lord Vishnu’s fish avatar and roughly the size of a minivan, will then be hoisted off the ship and dropped into the water to begin its journey to the ocean depths. Tethered to its mothership by a cable, will descend well past the 100 metre mark, beyond which sunlight does not penetrate and’s outer lights to illuminate the pitch dark, and move about the sea floor for around six hours, studying the environment through acrylic viewports and using crablike robotic arms to scoop up samples.
