Scientists of Earth System Sciences Organisation–National Institute of Ocean Technology (ESSO-NIOT), Pallikaranai, helped in recovering a torpedo that was lost during a technology demonstration trial off the Vishakapatnam coast last month.
The torpedo, Varunastra, was lost when the Naval Science and Technological Laboratory was conducting the trial. When its help was sought, a team from ESSO-NIOT prepared a remotely-operable vehicle and launched the recovery mission from ORV Sagar Nidhi, a vessel belonging to the ministry of earth sciences.
The team located the torpedo embedded vertically in the seabed at a depth of 168 meters. It then devised a method to release the torpedo from the seabed and, after repeated attempts, retrieved it in the first such operation, said a note from M.A. Atmanand, director, ESSO-NIOT.