Sad incident; will soon locate missing sailor: Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan on damaged INS Brahmaputra

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Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan said that the accident involving the INS Brahmaputra warship that is resting on one side in the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai, in which one sailor is missing is sad and they are trying to locate him wherever he is. The warship is resting on one side in the Naval Dockyard after a fire incident on board on Sunday night.

"It is a sad incident but the navy will inquire into what happened and whatever corrective measures need to be taken will certainly be taken. The ship had a fire, like all of you know and in fighting the fire, a lot of water was used. Perhaps because of that, some of the stability of the ship may have gotten upset so the ship just tilted to one side and is resting on the jetty," he said on Tuesday. Swaminathan said that the missing sailor was seen coming out of the ship trying to swim ashore but later they don't know what happened to him.

"The ship can very well be made upright. Water can be pumped out, we can do a damage assessment and we can reset the ship as soon as we can. We don't know where the sailor is. He was seen coming out of the ship and he was seen in the water trying to swim ashore. We don't know what happened to him. Certainly, there is a search for him and we will try to locate him wherever he is," he said.

Earlier, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh Tripathi reviewed the damage caused to the INS Brahmaputra warship after it was involved in an incident, defence sources told ANI. Tripathi has asked the sailors to work towards reviving the boat, defence sources told ANI. The sources said that the warship would be first uprighted in the dockyard and then taken to a dry dock for assessment, after which efforts would be made to revive it.

Taking a strong view into the accident involving INS Brahmaputra warship, the Naval headquarters has ordered a detailed probe led by a Rear Admiral to determine the exact causes and establish accountability based on the inquiry report. During the visit, Admiral Tripathi gave strict instructions to the officials concerned to be very careful in handling vital national assets during his visit to Mumbai to review the cause of the accident.

The Navy chief was briefed about the incident by Western Command officials about the accident and the steps being taken by the force, they said. The Rear Admiral (equivalent to a Major General in the Army) heading the Board of Inquiry has been asked to work in a time-bound manner to find out the exact reasons for the accident, they said.

A fire had broken out onboard INS Brahmaputra while she was undergoing refit. The ship experienced severe listing to one side but 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 missing sailor has also not yet been found but the search operations for him are continuing there, Navy officials said.

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