Navy orders inquiry into warship accident

New Delhi, Jan 31 (PTI) The Navy today ordered a Board ofInquiry (BOI) to look into the reasons behind collision of oneof its warships with a merchant vessel in the Mumbai harbourand explore its future operational worth.

The Navy has also lodged an FIR in Mumbai against thecargo ship MV Nordalke which collided with the INS Vindhyagiriin the harbour yesterday.

"An FIR has been lodged with Mumbai police and MVNordlake is held back in the Mumbai harbour. An inquiry isbeing ordered onto the incident," Navy officials said here.

The BOI, they said, will also look into the reasonsbehind the collision and assess the damage done to the ship.

It will also recommend if the ship was fit to be used againfor operations or not.

After the collision, the ship is lying on the sea bed inthe Naval dockyard and cannot sink completely as the waterlevel is very low there, they said.

Fire had engulfed INS Vindhyagiri after the accident anddue to a dent, water flooded it. Thereafter, it was safelyberthed alongside in the Naval harbour.

Taking safety precautions, all the ammunition on boardthe warship was cleared and efforts were made by personnelthere to contain the fire and flooding on board, the officialssaid. "Necessary measures have also been taken to prevent anyspillage of oil from the ship," they added.

Commissioned in 1981, the INS Vindhyagiri was afully-operational Leander-class frigate.