Panaji: The Sindhu Sankalp, a research vessel acquired by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) will be handed over to the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) within a few weeks, its chief said.

"After obtaining the clearances, the ship will undertake trial research cruises during the next few months," NIO director S.R. Shetye told reporters here.

The 35-crew, 56.3 meter vessel, which has a cruising speed of 11.5 knots and a range of 20,000 nautical miles, will be equipped with modern research equipment for studying physical, chemical, biological, geological and geophysical oceanography.

"The equipment on board RV Sindhu Sankalp can record profiles of temperature and salinity in the water column, collect high resolution data on the ocean bottom, study topographic features and profile geophysical structure below the ocean floor," Shetye said.

"The ship is equipped with three laboratories to conduct on board analysis and for processing of data," he said.

Shetye said the vessel comes at a time when the NIO's research programmes are midway through the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-12) and have been facing shortage of ship time due to paucity of research vessels in the country.

"The new ship is expected to boost our ongoing research. NIO's existing major programmes are enlarging India's ocean forecasting capability to serve the maritime community, enhancing energy and mineral security through geophysical and geological studies," he said. IANS