Kolkata, Dec 24 (UNI) Union Minister of Earth Sciences, Science & Technology & Environment, Forest & Climate Change Harsh Vardhan is expected to take part in a pre-launching ceremony of Coastal Research Vessel (CRV) " Sagar Tara" at Titagargh Wagons Ltd (TWL) shipyard's eastern bank of Hoohgly in North 24 Parganas later today, official sources said.
The vessel for research activities of the NIOT in Indian waters is being built by private sector Titagarh Wagons Ltd, which already supplied a ship to Indian Navy recently in record time.
Sagar Tara, one of the first two vessels, being built by the private sector, will be official launched by Nutan Goel, wife of Harsh Vardhan, early on December 25. The launching timing is around 0400 hours.
The new vessel, once commissioned, will significantly enhance the capacity in respect of acquisition of marine scientific data and ocean observations for various programme of Ministry of Earth Sciences, official sources said.
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Another identical Coastal Research Vessel (CRV), Sagar Anveshika, is expected to be launched during March/April 2019.
The acquisition of the two CRVs is carried out by Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) through National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), an autonomous institute under MoES.
Both these ships are being built by Titagarh Wagons Ltd (TWL) at its shipyard in Kolkata under the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the Central Government at a total cost of Rs. 99.5 crore.
CRV Sagar Tara is equipped with the advanced scientific equipment and latest navigational equipment with a role of measuring oceanographic and atmospheric data within the Exclusive Economic Zone [EEZ] of India. This ship will also be utilized for shallow water operations [Surface Water Quality Monitoring (SWQM), shallow water testing of various underwater components, technology demonstration, Tsunami early warning systems, Deep sea technology development, Drugs from sea, Bathymetry survey of Exclusive Economic Zone [EEZ], Environmental indexing of ships and coastal zones and etc., along the entire Indian coasts for the various programme of MoES.
This research vessel will be a national facility for ocean research.
At least 60 research institutes from India are expected to utilize these ships.
The CRV Sagar Tara is about 43 m in length, 2.5 m draught, with a capacity to accommodate 8 scientists and 12 crew members for an endurance period of 15 days.
The vessel is expected to be commissioned by March/April 2019 after satisfactory sea trials and will join the fleet of scientific research vessels of MoES viz. Sagar Kanya, Sagar Samapada, Sagar Nidhi, Sagar Manjusha and Sagar Purvi.
This will significantly enhance the capacity in respect of acquisition of marine scientific data and ocean observations for various programme of Ministry of Earth Sciences.
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