Submarine sinks, questions float
16 Aug 2013 4:42 AM IST
On the eve of the country’s 66th Independence Day, in the midst of darkness of the night (just shy of the midnight hour really), the Indian Navy seemed to have lost 18 men – 15 sailors and three officers – in the worst ever submarine accident the service ever faced. INS Sindhurakshak, a newly refitted Kilo class submarine, suffered an explosion and caught fire when moored at its berth in the
Mumbai port.
According to reports emanating out of the press conference Admiral DK Joshi, the chief of naval staff, held in Mumbai late in the afternoon, the cause of the explosion could not be established immediately. He did not rule out a ‘sabotage,’ but did not rule it in either.
The conventional diesel-powered submarine, had just come back from Russia after an extensive re-fit for life extension and apparently had weapons (torpedoes, missiles etc), fuel, oxygen supply fully stocked up. All of these were highly combustible material, that submarines need to sail underwater.
While the cause of the accident on Sindhurakshak has not been established yet, this reminds one of arguably the biggest submarine disaster of early this century – the Russian nuclear sub Kursk.
In that incident, nuclear submarine K-141, a vessel of the Northern fleet was on an exercise firing dummy torpedoes – with minor explosive power – and one of those exploded in the torpedo tube causing an explosion that measured 2.2 on Richter scale.
The Russian authorities did not ever make public the investigation report of the accident, but it is believed that the single explosion caused other weapons to explode too, sinking the sub. The sub then had 118 men aboard, all are believed to have died. The NATO-designated Oscar class submarine’s sinking led to the making of a Hollywood film.
Indian Navy has ordered an inquiry into Wednesday’s accident that has been tasked to submit its report in a month.
But some reports say that there were two explosions on Sindhurakshak. The second explosion could have been caused by the first resulting in the fatal sinking the vessel. But it was not fully submerged immediately after the explosions as some portions of it were visible for a while above the water line.
An IANS report said that the naval experts whose first priority was to rescue lives, had by the evening managed to open the hatch. But Navy’s main spokesperson, PVS Satish could not confirm in New Delhi till late in the evening, whether anyone aboard the sub was brought out alive.
However, defence minister AK Antony, who met the media while visiting Mumbai did not hold out a promise of anyone being found alive. Although the CNS Admiral Joshi had tried maintaining a cautious line, latest reports have confirmed that all aboard the submarine have died in the incident.
The loss of the newly refurbished Sindhurakshak will hurt the navy more as it is already worried about its depleted submarine strength. In fact, it is ironic that the tragic accident took place just five days after the nuclear reactor of the INS Arihant, India’s only nuclear submarine in the making, went ‘critical.’
Today, on the 66th Independence Day, the nation mourns the 18 lives that were lost in the Arabian Sea, on the western seaboard.
Mumbai port.
According to reports emanating out of the press conference Admiral DK Joshi, the chief of naval staff, held in Mumbai late in the afternoon, the cause of the explosion could not be established immediately. He did not rule out a ‘sabotage,’ but did not rule it in either.
The conventional diesel-powered submarine, had just come back from Russia after an extensive re-fit for life extension and apparently had weapons (torpedoes, missiles etc), fuel, oxygen supply fully stocked up. All of these were highly combustible material, that submarines need to sail underwater.
While the cause of the accident on Sindhurakshak has not been established yet, this reminds one of arguably the biggest submarine disaster of early this century – the Russian nuclear sub Kursk.
In that incident, nuclear submarine K-141, a vessel of the Northern fleet was on an exercise firing dummy torpedoes – with minor explosive power – and one of those exploded in the torpedo tube causing an explosion that measured 2.2 on Richter scale.
The Russian authorities did not ever make public the investigation report of the accident, but it is believed that the single explosion caused other weapons to explode too, sinking the sub. The sub then had 118 men aboard, all are believed to have died. The NATO-designated Oscar class submarine’s sinking led to the making of a Hollywood film.
Indian Navy has ordered an inquiry into Wednesday’s accident that has been tasked to submit its report in a month.
But some reports say that there were two explosions on Sindhurakshak. The second explosion could have been caused by the first resulting in the fatal sinking the vessel. But it was not fully submerged immediately after the explosions as some portions of it were visible for a while above the water line.
An IANS report said that the naval experts whose first priority was to rescue lives, had by the evening managed to open the hatch. But Navy’s main spokesperson, PVS Satish could not confirm in New Delhi till late in the evening, whether anyone aboard the sub was brought out alive.
However, defence minister AK Antony, who met the media while visiting Mumbai did not hold out a promise of anyone being found alive. Although the CNS Admiral Joshi had tried maintaining a cautious line, latest reports have confirmed that all aboard the submarine have died in the incident.
The loss of the newly refurbished Sindhurakshak will hurt the navy more as it is already worried about its depleted submarine strength. In fact, it is ironic that the tragic accident took place just five days after the nuclear reactor of the INS Arihant, India’s only nuclear submarine in the making, went ‘critical.’
Today, on the 66th Independence Day, the nation mourns the 18 lives that were lost in the Arabian Sea, on the western seaboard.
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