Another Naval mishap: INS Sindhughosh collides with fishing trawler, periscope damaged

Mumbai, Feb 23: In yet another Naval mishap, INS Sindhughosh, a Kilo-class submarine, suffered a minor accident after it collided with a fishing trawler off Mumbai's coast on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday, the Navy has said.

The Russian-origin Indian vessel's periscope suffered a damage in the accident. No major damages to the submarine have been reported in the collision and the Defence Ministry has been informed about the same.

As per a report published in the TOI, The 3,000-tonne submarine INS Sindhughosh, which was participating in the major naval exercise Tropex (Theatre Readiness Operational Level Exercise) in the Arabian Sea, was at "periscope depth" when the incident took place in the intervening night of Thursday-Friday.

"The submarine was practicing 'special boat section' operation during which divers swim out of its torpedo tubes with a Gemini boat to carry out a covert land operation on land. It was pitch-dark when the operation was being carried out close to the coastline, south of Mumbai," said an official.

As per another private news channel's report, this is not the first time INS Sindhughosh met with an accident. Earlier in 2008, the Naval submarine collided with a foreign merchant vessel, MV Leeds Castle, while attempting to surface in the seas.

The damaged periscope is being repaired now, the Navy has said.

Earlier last year, Navy chief Admiral RK Dhowan said that human error was responsible for the INS Sindhurakshak submarine mishap.

"Mishandling of weapons led to explosion which destroyed submarine INS Sindhurakshak. The fatal accident happened because laid down procedure were not followed," disclosed Navy chief, on Dec 2013.

Dhowan further added, "It was a very, very serious accident as it is not normal for a submarine to explode in harbour."

An explosion onboard Sindhurakshak on August 14 last year had resulted in the death of 18 Navy personnel. Navy officials said the submarine may not be seaworthy, even after refits.

OneIndia News