The Indian navy wants to sink a ship. Here's to hoping that the ship starts rusting fast and becomes a habitat for creatures of the underwater underworld.

The Indian navy wants to sink a ship. The ship is one of its own. The INS Cuddalore is a decommissioned minesweeper. It will be sunk in the waters 7 km off the coast of Pudiucherry. It will become India's first underwater museum. Under normative circumstances, barnacles are never a good thing for a ship. But these unwanted weed-like barnacles are crucial to the success of the venture.

Algae and barnacles have to encrust the rusty remains of the 60-meter-long and 12-meter-wide vessel to encourage fish and other sea creatures to make the minesweeper their home. And these are what adventurous tourists snorkeling through pay to see.

The steel in the ship will start rusting and corroding in a few weeks in the presence of oxygen in the water. Chemical compounds such as protein and polysaccharides accumulate and form a film on the ship making its surface conducive for the growth of microorganisms, plants, algae, and bacteria.

These, in turn, attract barnacles. Over a period, small fishes make the vessel their home and begin breeding. The ecosystem will slowly grow as it will attract more marine animals like turtles and deep-sea organisms like starfish and sea cucumber. Eventually, it may attract big fish like tuna and predators like sharks.

The Indian Navy wants to sink a ship and efforts are being made by NGO PondyCan, two Chennai-based national laboratories – National Institute of Ocean Technology and National Centre for Coastal Research – and the Puducherry government. The project is awaiting clearance from the National Coastal Zone Management Authority and the state pollution control board.