Afanasy Nikitin Seamount
Published on 09 Mar 2025
• India recently applied to the International Seabed Authority (ISBA) for rights to explore the Afanasy Nikitin Seamount (AN Seamount).
• The AN Seamount is a structural feature (400 km long and 150 km-wide) in the Central Indian Basin, located about 3,000 km off India’s coast.
• Discovered in 1959 by the Soviet research vessel “Vityaz,” the seamount was named after Afanasy Nikitin, a 15th-century Russian merchant and explorer who famously travelled to India.
• From an oceanic depth of about 4,800 km, it rises to about 1,200 metres and is rich in deposits of cobalt, nickel, manganese, and copper.