In the last couple of years, there have been reports of several Chinese research vessels entering the Indian Ocean. On the face of it, while these vessels are not warships or combat platforms, their presence cannot be dismissed as simple scientific exploratory missions.
China maintains a consistent, strategic presence in the Indian Ocean through vessels officially classified as scientific research ships. Beijing describes these deployments as oceanographic or geological research, but defence analysts frequently categorise them as dual-use "spy ships" capable of mapping seafloor terrain for submarine operations and conducting electronic intelligence gathering.
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These vessels are under constant monitoring by Indian and Western naval forces. Against this backdrop, indigenously developed research vessels are vital to safeguarding national sovereignty.
Typically, research vessels are designed for performing scientific studies of marine science disciplines, including oceanography, geophysics, climate science, and biological research. These are specialised ships equipped with advanced technologies such as dynamic positioning (DP) systems to maintain vessel position automatically, which enables precise seabed mapping and ROV/AUV deployment and low underwater radiated noise considered essential for acoustic and marine life studies.
Research vessels around the world
The United States, Russia and China operate the largest fleets, enabling extensive global oceanographic and climate-related research.
European nations such as Germany and France maintain advanced but comparatively smaller fleets, often specialising in polar and deep-sea research.
Emerging maritime nations, including India, are steadily expanding their research capabilities to support regional ocean studies and climate monitoring.
Reports suggest that the US and Russia operate in excess of 100 research vessels, China is fast catching up with over 60 such platforms, and India has about 25 such ships.
Focus on ocean and polar research
India’s unique geography, with 11,083 km of coastline, nine coastal states, and 1382 islands, has abundant hidden potential to ensure long-term sustenance and eliminate India’s dependency on other countries.
Despite this significant strategic advantage, India’s abundant ocean resources remained largely underexplored at least till the 1980s due to limited initial research capacity.
India’s Deep Ocean Mission was launched in Sep 2021 by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) with an aim to develop technologies for exploring and sustainably utilising the deep ocean’s living and non-living wealth with an overall investment of ₹4077 crore.
By 2025, India became a global leader in deep-sea technology by successfully testing a mining system at 5,270m—the deepest such test ever recorded. India is also significantly increasing its focus on polar and ocean research, led by the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), to understand climate change impacts, explore mineral resources, and assert strategic presence, with major initiatives in Antarctica (Maitri, Bharati), the Arctic (Himadri), and deep-sea exploration and plans for indigenous research vessels to enhance scientific capability and geopolitical standing.
However, to this day, India has been dependent on outside help to supply its polar stations. To overcome this limitation, India now intends to build its first Polar Research Vessel (PRV) by 2030 in order to be able to self-supply its Antarctic bases.
India’s research vessel capability
India’s research vessel program can be grouped into three groups: the Indian Navy (Ministry of Defence), scientific agencies like NIOT, NCPOR (Ministry of Earth Sciences), and GSI (Ministry of Mines).
Initially, India collaborated with foreign partners, acquiring vessels like ORV Sagar Kanya (Germany, 1983) and ORV Sagar Nidhi (Italy, 2008). Indigenous construction began with smaller vessels like CRV Sagar Sukti (1990) and CRV Sagar Purvi (1996). Notable vessels include ORV Sagar Manjusha (HSL, 2006) and RV Sindhu Sadhana (ABG Shipyard, 2014). Recent additions include CRV Sagar Tara and CRV Sagar Anveshika (2019-2020).
The Ministry of Defence's programme is entirely indigenous, including vessels such as INS Darshak, Sandhayak-class ships and INS Sagardhwani.
Indigenous research vessel construction
Interestingly, more than 90 per cent of India’s indigenous survey/research vessels have been built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd. (GRSE), a Schedule A Defence PSU shipyard, operating out of Kolkata.
GRSE entered the niche segment of survey vessels in 1981 with the design and construction of INS Sandhayak class, and research vessel in 1994 with the design and construction of Sagardhwani for NPOL. Whilst the first ship of that Survey class, ‘Sandhayak’, got decommissioned in Jun 2021 after 40 years of glorious service to the nation, INS Sagardhwani continues to be in active service for research operations conducted by NPOL.
The legacy continued with the successful design and construction of four Survey Vessels (Large) for the Indian Navy, wherein the first platform of the class was delivered by GRSE to the Indian Navy in 2023. Currently, three of these four SVL ships have already been delivered by GRSE and the fourth vessel, ‘Sansodhak’, is slated for delivery in early 2026. The shipyard prioritises indigenous content, achieving over 80 per cent indigenous content in recent Survey Vessel (Large) ships and engaging MSMEs.
GRSE has also secured contracts for three research vessel projects in 2024-25, including one Ocean Research Vessel for NCPOR, one Acoustic Research Ship for NPOL, and two Coastal Research Vessels for GSI, with delivery expected by 2028.
This makes GRSE the only shipyard in India working with all Ministries involved in the research program. The new vessels will have advanced features like a Dynamic Positioning System, a Gondola, and a Drop Keel, enabling them to conduct hydrographic surveys, oceanographic studies, and acoustic research.
The Ocean Research Vessel will study deep-sea minerals and oceanographic R&D, while the Acoustic Research Ship will conduct acoustic and oceanography research.
GRSE has also initiated design preparatory activities for India's first Polar Research Vessel, partnering with Norway's Kongsberg Maritime. The day is not far when an indigenous polar research vessel will be carrying our scientists and probably those from other countries for Arctic/Antarctic missions.
India is also well poised to build research/survey vessels for other countries, with shipyards like GRSE having developed niche expertise in this segment. This augurs well for India’s efforts to be the big brother by providing eyes in the Indian Ocean, while also strengthening diplomatic relations through collaborative scientific research.
The writer, Cmde Vinith Aerat (Retd.), is Chief General Manager at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, currently heading Business Development. He has over three decades of experience in ship design and construction, overseeing project management in warship acquisition programs and ship repair.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of THE WEEK.