NEW DELHI: An Indian Navy Submarine on transit along the West Coast on Thursday evening was hit by a fishing vessel. The fishing boat capsized with all its crew falling into the water.
The Indian Navy confirmed that an Indian fishing vessel Marthoma with a crew of 13 collided with an Indian Naval submarine. The Indian Navy said, “Search and Rescue efforts were immediately launched by the Indian Navy with six ships and aircraft. 11 crew have been rescued so far.”
A Coordinated Search and Rescue effort for the remaining two crew is in progress and is being coordinated with the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Mumbai. Additional assets including from the Coast Guard have been diverted to the area to augment the efforts. The sources said the submarine was moving from one port to the other on the western coast.
“After the collision, the boat continued to its next port of call,” sources said. The extent of damage will be ascertained once it touches the port, maybe by Friday night, the source added.
As per the force the cause of the incident is being investigated. The Indian Navy’s beleaguered underwater combat arm has seen accidents and collisions with the fishing boats in the past as well.
In 2015, INS Sindhughosh collided with a fishing vessel off the western coast which resulted in minor damage to the submarine’s periscope. In February 2014, INS Sindhuratna had a fire incident onboard which led to the death of two officers. In another submarine accident, in August 2013, INS Sindhurakshak was damaged by blasts while it was berthed at the naval dockyard off the Mumbai coast. It had led to the death of fifteen sailors and three officers. In January 2008, INS Sindhughosh, another Kilo-class submarine, had collided with the foreign merchant vessel MV Leeds Castle while it was attempting to surface in waters near Mumbai.
The Indian Navy has five Scorpene boats which are new with the sixth to be commissioned. But the Indian Navy’s underwater arm is operating submarines more than 20 years old, its manufacturing programmes are also running late.
Meanwhile, China has been augmenting its naval power with the continuous deployment of warships and submarines into the Indian Ocean.
China has become the biggest Navy with 355 warships and submarines while India’s total fleet strength is 130. At present, there are 16 submarines of various classes operating with the force. These include the five Kalvari (Scorpene) class, four Shishumar (HDW SSKs)) class and seven Sindhughosh classes.