This Article is From Nov 07, 2013

Salvage contract for submarine Sindhurakshak, which exploded and sank, to be finalised soon: Navy chief

Admiral DK Joshi speaks to NDTV

Mumbai: Chief of Naval Staff Admiral DK Joshi today said that the cause of the explosion on India's conventional submarine - INS Sindhurakshak - three months ago at the Mumbai naval dockyard would be clear after a probe is carried out. The Navy is still waiting for the vessel to be salvaged, he said.

Admiral Joshi said the salvage contract will be finalised soon.

"But insofar as lessons to be learnt are concerned, it would happen only after we have concluded the enquiry process...We have tendered out five globally acknowledged salvage firms. They have all submitted their bids.

"Once we retrieve the submarine, we would have the final forensic evidence we were looking for and the Board of Enquiry would be able to complete its proceedings and point out what went wrong," Admiral Joshi said.

The explosion onboard INS Sindhurakshak in August had sunk the submarine in the Mumbai harbour and killed 18 sailors on board.

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