Navy hopes to salvage INS Betwa

MUMBAI: The Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba visited the Mumbai Naval Dockyard on Tuesday to inspect the accident site where navy ship INS Betwa slipped on the dock blocks while it was being undocked on Monday. Two sailors were killed in the accident.

Admiral Lanba was briefed about the accident, and board of inquiry headed by Rear Admiral Deepak Bali, Flag officer Offshore Defence Advisory Group, was constituted to look into the events that led to the naval vessel’s mast hitting the floor.

The Navy hopes to salvage the ship which was commissioned in 2004, and a special team is likely to reach Mumbai on December 7, and should complete its initial assessment within two days, said navy spokesperson Captain DK Sharma.

Sources in the Indian Navy said that ostensibly there seems to be a procedural error which caused the ship to slip. According to the procedure to undock the ship, water is allowed into the dry dock making the front end of the ship to float first.

While undocking the vessel from the dock, sufficient amount of water is discharged to make vessel float. Until the water level reaches a specified level, the vessel is connected to a support system. However, here the support system was dislodged even before the water reached its specified level to make the vessel float, said navy sources.

THE SHIP THAT WAS COMMISSIONED IN 2004, SLIPPED ON THE DOCK BLOCKS IN MUMBAI, KILLING TWO SAILORS