NIO to Commence International Indian Ocean Expedition Again

Grab facts and statistics on 2^nd International Indian Ocean Expedition soon going to be launched by National Institute of Oceanography (NIO).

As an initiative by the UNESCO’s inter-governmental oceanographic commission, National Institute of Oceanography or popularly known as NIO soon going to launch the 2^nd International Indian Ocean Expedition this quarter in 2015. It is reported that, 20 countries around the globe are going to participate in this mission.

In order to study the effects of alteration of climate on the ocean over the last 50 years, NIO is launching this mission. It will continue for next 5 years till 2020 which intended to create global awareness about the significance of the Indian Ocean.

The 20 country list includes some popular names like the USA, Japan, Germany, France, and Australia and newly collaborated countries like Bangladesh and Myanmar. On this particular mission, UNESCO termed this 5 year project as a solid effort for knowledge-building, sharing and capacity building.

Syed Wajih Ahmad Naqvi, Director at the National Institute of Oceanography said in his statement – “The effort of the first expedition was to look at the larger picture. This time we want to look closer by collaborating with countries like Bangladesh and Myanmar.”

Naqvi also reported regarding an agreement with Bangladesh to explore and sample the Indian Ocean area in their economic zone. The reason behind this a lot of fresh water and material are washed into the ocean by the Brahmaputra river and its necessary to know what happens to it.

It was from 1961 to 1965, the first International Indian Ocean expedition took place with 13 countries. In order to analyze marine science data, 40 research vessels helped. As many things are under special economic zones, huge parts are undiscovered.