New Delhi: A naval officer was killed Friday while attempting to douse a fire that broke out in the engine room of INS Vikramaditya, India’s only aircraft carrier, while entering the harbour in Karnataka’s Karwar.
“Lt Cdr DS Chauhan bravely led the firefighting efforts in the affected compartment. Whilst the fire was brought under control, the officer suffered loss of consciousness owing to the smoke and fumes during the firefighting efforts. He was immediately evacuated to the Naval Hospital at Karwar, INHS Patanjali for medical attention. However, the officer could not be revived,” a statement by the Navy said.
It added that the fire was brought under control by the ship’s crew in a swift action “preventing any serious damage affecting the ship’s combat capability”.
This is the second fatal incident to occur aboard the vessel: In 2016, two people — an Indian Navy sailor and a civilian — were killed and two others seriously injured in a toxic gas leak.
A Board of Inquiry to investigate Friday’s fire has been ordered.
Lt Cdr Chauhan was an executive officer who was trained in chemical nuclear biological disaster prevention. He led the damage control and fire-fighting party.
The damage
While the Navy statement did not give details of where the fire occurred or the extent of damage, top Naval sources told ThePrint that the fire took place in the engine room.
“It was a small fire and was immediately brought under control. The death happened due to smoke,” a source said.
The source added that the aircraft carrier continues to be “fully operational”.
The ship, bought from Russia for $2.3 billion, was coming into the harbour after a “long deployment”.
INS Vikramaditya was commissioned into the Indian Navy in November 2013 at the Sevmash shipyard in north Russia’s Severodvinsk, and is based at its home port at Karwar.
The ship is 284 metres long and 60 metres high – which is about the height of a 20-storeyed building. It weighs 40,000 tonnes and is the biggest and heaviest ship in the Indian Navy.
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