NEW DELHI, July 22: An Indian Navy warship which was undergoing maintenance at the naval dockyard in Mumbai was severely damaged after she caught fire, the navy said on Monday.
It said a junior sailor was since missing and rescue teams were looking for him while all other personnel have been accounted for.
The fire broke out on board the multirole frigate INS Brahmaputra on Sunday evening while she was undergoing refit at the Mumbai naval dockyard, the navy said, adding the ship is lying on its side.
“… The fire was brought under control by the ship’s crew with assistance of firefighters from Naval Dockyard, Mumbai and other ships in harbour, by [Monday] morning. Further, follow-on actions including sanitisation checks for assessment of residual risk of fire were carried out,” the navy said in a statement.
The navy said subsequently in the afternoon the ship started listing to one side. “Despite all efforts, the ship could not be brought to an upright position. The ship continued to list further alongside her berth and is presently resting on one side,” the navy said.
“All personnel have been accounted for except one junior sailor, for whom the search is in progress. An inquiry has been ordered by the Indian Navy to investigate the accident,” the navy said.
The INS Brahmaputra is the first of the indigenously built ‘Brahmaputra’ class guided missile frigate. It was commissioned into the Indian Navy in April 2000. The ship is manned by a crew of 40 officers and 330 sailors.
The ship is fitted with a medium range, close range and anti-aircraft guns, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles and torpedo launchers. The ship has a wide array of sensors covering all facets of maritime warfare and is capable of operating Seaking and Chetak helicopters.
The INS Brahmaputra has a displacement of 5,300 tonnes, a length of 125 metres, a beam of 14.4 metres and is capable of speed in excess of 27 knots. The ship’s name ‘Brahmaputra’ has been derived from the famous river which flows through Assam. The ship’s crest depicts a grey, one-horned Indian rhinoceros on a brown background over white and blue sea waves.
(Manas Dasgupta)