New Delhi: The Indian Navy’s guided missile frigate INS Brahmaputra, nicknamed the ‘Raging Rhino’, has nearly keeled over at Mumbai’s Naval Dockyard following a fire on board while undergoing refit on Sunday.
One junior sailor is missing following the fire on the vessel.
The lead vessel of the Brahmaputra-class frigates is presently resting on one side alongside her berth.
The fire incident took place on Sunday evening while she was undergoing refit. The blaze was brought under control by the ship’s crew with assistance of firefighters from Naval Dockyard, Mumbai and other ships in harbour, by Monday morning.
Further, follow-on actions including sanitisation checks for assessment of residual risk of fire were carried out. However, in the afternoon, the ship experienced severe tilting to one side (port side).
The Indian Navy, in a statement, said that despite all efforts, the ship could not be brought to the upright position. “The ship continued to list further alongside her berth and is presently resting on one side,” it said.
Later in the night, the office of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh posted on ‘X’ that Indian Navy chief Admiral Dinesh K. Tripathi apprised him of the fire breakout and the damages caused by the incident. It added that the minister directed the navy chief to take appropriate action.
Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi has apprised RM Shri @rajnathsingh of the fire breakout onboard Indian Naval Ship Brahmaputra and the damages caused by the incident.
RM prays for the safety of missing sailor.
— रक्षा मंत्री कार्यालय/ RMO India (@DefenceMinIndia) July 22, 2024
Defence sources said that while the fire was doused, the vessel tilted due to the water pumped into the vessel. The sources said that efforts are on to salvage the ship and only then one would be able to decide the extent of damage.
INS Brahmaputra was commissioned in 2000 and built by state-run Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited.
The Brahmaputra class is an indigenous enhancement of the Godaviri class of frigates, succeeding the Talwar class. While INS Brahmaputra is the lead ship, subsequent ships of the class were also named after rivers — INS Betwa and INS Beas.
In 2017, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report stated that ships and submarines of the Indian Navy were involved in 38 accidents from 2007 to 2016. The report was very critical of the safety protocols followed by the Navy.
Since then there have been more accidents on board ships, including on aircraft carrier Vikramaditya. Most of the fire accidents have happened in harbour.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
(This is an updated version of the report with statement from the office of the defence minister and the photo from the naval dockyard)