New Delhi:
The Indian Navy is red in the face and fuming. Defence Minister AK Antony today blamed the Indian Navy for the sinking of INS Sindhurakshak at the Bombay Harbour following explosions in the weapons chamber on August 14. He went on to further advise Navy commanders "not to waste national resources."
Addressing the Navy Commanders conference - an annual event to take stock - Mr Antony said the death of 18 crew members on board INS Sindhurakshak was tragic. "It must be ensured that safety mechanism are topmost priority and Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) are adhered to strictly and without exception," he told Navy commanders. "We need to seriously reflect upon the incident, analyze it and also draw lessons of future," the minister added.
Initial inquires have revealed that the frontline submarine was being readied for mission and was about sail into the Arabian Sea when there were explosions in the weapons compartment of the ship. The submarine sank subsequently at berth and is yet to be salvaged.
The Indian Navy is shocked and surprised at the Defence Minister's sudden accusations because the Board of Inquiry into the accident tasked to determine what caused the explosion hasn't completed its inquiry. Also the ship is yet to be salvaged and forensic test which would give some indications of what led to the explosions hasn't been conducted.
Sources told NDTV the process of appointing professional salvagers is still on. Since India doesn't have the capability to salvage such a huge ship, a global tender has been floated. Five global salvers have responded to the tender floated by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). "It will take at least 200 more days for the salvagers to pull out the submarine," a senior Navy official told NDTV.
"We have absolutely nothing with us which would bear out the Defence Minister's statement about SoPs (Standard Operating Procedures) and security drill being violated leading to the accident," a Navy official said.
The Ministry of Defence, to which the Navy reports, tried to play down the comments. MoD officials said that the Defence Minister's remark about INS Sindhurakshak is "generic" where he wanted to stress on following laid down security and SoPs.