Shocking lapses, crew fatigue led to Navy sub mishaps: CAG

NEWDELHI: Shocking lapses led to two of the worst Indian naval accidents involving submarines in which 20 personnel lost their lives, reveals the Comptroller and Auditor General’ s( CA G) latest report.

The Russian-built submarine INS Sindh ur ak sh ak san k after an explosion killing 18 sailors in August 2013, and two officers died in a fire on INS Sindhuratna the following year, an accident that triggered then navy chief Admiral DK Joshi’s resignation.

Citing the findings of a naval inquiry, the CAG report said the operational deployment of INS Sindh ur ak sh ak was not justified. “Submarine authorities concerned did not properly assess the crewfatigue, besides,thesubma- rine was holding ammunition nearing life expiry,” the report quoted the naval Board of Inquiry (BoI) findings. The submarine was disposed of in June 2017 and its final resting point is 3,000 metres under the Arabian Sea.

The report said the navy’s BoI also brought out that complete ‘Work Up ’( mandatory drills) was not conducted.

“The‘ Work Up’ was completed within one week instead of prescribed two weeks.” The submarine costing ~404 crore was commissioned in December 1999.

“The trials and calibration of Navigational aids and sensors should be completed prior to deployment of a submarine for ‘Work Up’ with any consorts. However, the Sea Acceptance Trials of two critical equipment were not completed even at the time of its preparation for opera- tional deployment,” the report noted in a chapter on naval accidents during the last 10 years.

The CAG said 38 warships were involved in mishaps during 2007-16 and the navy had no framework to deal with safety issues.

The report said a navy BoI, reconvened in February 2014, “inferred leak age of oxygen from a torpedo as a primary initiator of the incident.”

“The laid down Ships Operating Standards (SHOPS) for the submarine had not achieved the requisite Harbour and operational evolutions,” the report said.

On the INS Sindhuratna accident, the CAG said that the navy BoI found ,“There was inadequate holding of I SP -60 set, necessary for safety of personnel during damage/ fire control .”