India's Historic 5,000m Deep Ocean Dive Achieved by Former Navy Commander Jatinder Pal Singh
India's deep-sea exploration program has reached a significant milestone as two aquanauts from Chennai, affiliated with the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), have successfully completed the country’s first manned dive to nearly 5,000 meters in the North Atlantic Ocean.
This achievement, conducted aboard the French deep-submergence vehicle Nautile, serves as a key preparatory step for Samudrayaan, India's forthcoming deep ocean mission. The mission plans to deploy the indigenous Matsya 6000 submersible to depths of 6,000 meters by December 2027.
On August 4, former Indian Navy Commander Jatinder Pal Singh achieved a record-breaking descent to 5,002 meters. Following him, aquanaut R Ramesh reached a depth of 4,025 meters on August 5. The dives were meticulously observed by three scientists aboard a support vessel. A robotic arm was utilized to plant the Indian flag on the ocean floor, signifying India's inclusion in the exclusive group of fewer than six nations to have reached such depths.
Commander Singh's mission lasted nearly 10 hours, with half the time devoted to the journey down and up. His responsibilities included collecting seabed samples, evaluating emergency ascent procedures, and testing life-support systems under simulated failure conditions. Singh remarked on the lack of sunlight at such depths, emphasizing the training conducted both with and without artificial light. With over 3,000 hours of diving experience, Singh holds a previous record dive of 670 meters and has participated in 11 submarine rescue operations.
Ramesh, an expert remotely operated vehicle (ROV) pilot, described his experience as the first opportunity to directly observe what had previously been seen only through cameras. His five-hour mission included navigation, inspection, and seabed sampling tasks.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh praised this achievement as part of India’s dual advancements in exploring both space and the deep sea. Additionally, Ministry of Earth Sciences Secretary M Ravichandran noted that the collaboration with France’s Ifremer provided invaluable training for the Samudrayaan crew in areas like piloting, robotic operations, and acoustic communication.
The Matsya 6000 submersible, designed to withstand the intense pressure of 600 bars and to operate for 96 hours, has successfully undergone harbour trials in Chennai and is set for shallow water trials in 2026. A specially designed ship with a 27-tonne crane is under construction to facilitate the submersible's deployment.
NIOT Director Balaji Ramakrishnan expressed optimism about India's preparedness, stating, “Every component is being engineered for extreme conditions. Very soon, our indigenous Matsya will take the dive to 6,000 meters.”
This accomplishment marks a pivotal step for India towards tapping into deep-sea resources and strengthens its standing among the world's leading ocean exploration nations.
