Sailor's body found; navy chief orders actions to make vessel battle ready again
The INS Brahmaputra rolled over after a fire broke out on board at the naval dockyard in Mumbai on Monday when a crew was involved in its repairs
The body of leading seaman Sitendra Singh, who went missing after Indian warship INS Brahmaputra tipped over at the naval dockyard in Mumbai on Monday, has been recovered from the waters after intensive diving operations, the Indian Navy said on Wednesday. Meanwhile, navy chief Admiral Dinesh Tripathi has ordered necessary actions to be taken immediately to make the vessel combat ready again.
Singh was among the multi-role frigate’s crew involved in the repairs of the locally made warship when the incident occurred. While most of the men exited the warship using the gangway, some others jumped into the water and swam back to safety, except Singh who drowned, a navy official said, asking not to be named.
The 3,850-tonne INS Brahmaputra rolled over after a fire broke out on board on July 21. The cause of the vessel tipping over towards port, or the left, is still not known. Firefighting units had pumped huge quantities of water to douse the flames.
The frigate, the lead warship of the Brahmaputra class, suffered extensive damage and is likely to be out of action for several months, as previously reported by HT. It was at the dockyard for a refit.
The crippled frigate is still lying flat on its side at the berth.
Tripathi visited Mumbai on Tuesday to assess the damage. He reviewed the sequence of events leading to the accident and steps undertaken to locate the missing sailor.
He was briefed on the mitigating actions taken to limit the extent of the damage, and steps being taken to recover the vessel and repairs planned to restore its functionality at the earliest, the navy said in a statement.
“The CNS (chief of naval staff) directed that all actions by the Command (Mumbai-based Western Naval Command) and Naval Headquarters to make INS Brahmaputra seaworthy and combat ready are to be initiated immediately,” it added.
The priority will be to get the ship in its upright position before the navy can carry out a detailed damage assessment and initiate follow up action, including extensive repairs. During an interaction, Tripathi asked INS Brahmaputra’s crew to work towards early operationalisation of the ship, the statement added.
Earlier in December 2016, INS Betwa, a Brahmaputra-class guided missile frigate, slipped on the dock blocks in Mumbai while undergoing repairs and the freak accident left two sailors dead and 14 injured. It was salvaged to its upright position at a cost of ₹20 crore in two-and-a-half months. It returned to service six months thereafter.
The navy had then sought the help of foreign experts to salvage the warship as it did not have a crane big enough to lift a ship of Betwa’s size. It is likely to do that again.
The contract was then awarded to the Indian arm of US-based Resolve Marine Group to bring INS Betwa ship to level position, before repairs began. The group specialises in salvage and emergency response.
INS Brahmaputra experienced severe “listing” to port side, and despite all efforts, it could not be brought to the upright position, the navy announced on Monday. “Listing” refers to a vessel tilting to one side after taking water in.
The fire was brought under control by the ship’s crew with the assistance of firefighters from the naval dockyard and other ships in harbour by Monday morning.
The navy has ordered an investigation into the incident under a rear admiral. The “listing” could have been caused by the huge amounts of water pumped in to douse the fire, as reported earlier.
INS Brahmaputra is the first of the locally built Brahmaputra-class guided missile frigates. It was commissioned into the navy in April 2000, has a length of 125 metres, a beam of 16 metres and is manned by a crew of 370, including 40 officers.