Navy tightens safety measures on vessels after recent mishaps

An airtight ‘reporting’ procedure has been instituted by which all issues of ‘accidents and mishaps’ are being communicated to the commanders-in-chief through radio signal, a copy of which is being transmitted to the CNS.

Even the analyses of all the accidents that have taken place in the last flurry are being shared with all training schools, besides the Field Officer Sea Training (FOST). ‘They are to be further disseminated down the line all across the Navy,’ a senior naval official said on Tuesday.

The naval authorities even say that ‘The mundane and the routine are being taken care of with due care.’ They say that after the recent incidents a ‘safety stand-down’ was promulgated for all vessels and weapon safety related checks and ‘standard operating procedures’ on all operational submarines were ordered.

The navy source said, ‘According to the current regulations, any incident is thoroughly investigated to not just identify any errors, but more importantly, to address critical areas on material and training related aspects so as to prevent recurrence of incidents.’

In an additional measure, the naval head quarter (NHQ) directed conduct of safety ‘stand downs’ and an one-time safety audits before operational deployment of any ship and or submarine. This has now taken the shape of regular annual audit for all operational units.

These procedures involve ‘safety audits’ of all command and operational levels. Safety templates to undertake these audits in respect of ships, submarines, air-squadrons and air-bases have also been started. Besides, ‘Water tight integrity and fire fighting preparedness of units under ‘refits’ have been ordered once a quarter.’

Most importantly, a ‘feedback’ procedure has also been institutionalised and is also being denominated at the NHQ.