NIO recovered polymetallic nodules from a depth of 4,800 meters in the western Indian Ocean on 26 January 1981, using its first research vessel, RV Gaveshani, which was purchased in 1976.

Subsequently, work by NIO researchers helped India to gain the status of "Pioneer Investor" from the International Sea Bed Authority.

While this research was aimed at placing the country in a strategically enhanced position, it also provided the institute an opportunity to study the marine geology and geophysics of the Indian Ocean.

During the first decade and a half of its founding, besides developing its main campus at Goa, a major project taken up by the institute was organising the first Indian Expedition to Antarctica in 1981.

This project, together with exploration for polymetallic nodules, established close ties between NIO and the then Department of Ocean Development and subsequently the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India.

These ties helped the institute to grow while the government expanded the infrastructure for ocean research, technology and services in the country.

As noted earlier, an important theme of research at NIO has been understanding the oceanography of the North Indian Ocean – a tropical and small basin driven by strongly seasonal winds.

NIO researchers played a leading role in defining the nature of seasonality in the currents over the basin in general, and along the coast of India in particular.

NIO researchers have played a major role in answering critical questions concerning the processes that go on in this basin with lower than normal oxygen levels.

Sponsored and consultancy projects taken up by NIO include Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Coastal Zone Management, Resource Surveys, Biofouling & Corrosion studies, and development of marine instruments.

In recognition of their efforts, the directorate General of Shipping, Government of India, has sought NIO's help to develop plans for ballast water management in major Indian ports.

The recently acquired 56.5 m long RV Sindhu Sankalp serves primarily on the continental margins, but it is capable of open-sea voyages.

NIO's 80 m long research vessel RV Sindhu Sadhana, which will be capable of full open-sea studies, was constructed at the ABG Shipyard, Surat.

To support its varied activities, NIO uses the services of limited-tenure staff, including doctoral students, project assistants and post-doctoral fellows.

Hired regularly through walk-in interviews, the fresh graduates are permitted by this scheme to gain hands-on exposure to oceanographic research.

The graduates also have the option of becoming doctoral students through the Senior Research Fellow scheme of the Human Resource Development Group (HRDG) of CSIR.

With the establishment of the Academy for Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), CSIR's institutions are poised to take major initiatives in advanced education in the country.

NIO's Research Council has recommended that the institute take steps to start a school of oceanography as early as possible to address the problem of shortage of advanced manpower in ocean sciences in the country.