Indian navy chief quits after submarine accident
Print Edition
India’s navy chief resigned yesterday, taking responsibility for a string of operational incidents, the latest of which saw smoke sweep a submarine with two officers still missing.
The government said in a statement that it had accepted the resignation of Chief of Naval Staff Admiral DK Joshi, who will be replaced on an acting basis by Vice Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral RK Dhowan.
A search continued for the two officers after smoke filled parts of a Russian-built submarine on a training exercise off Mumbai in the early hours of yesterday.
The accident comes months after a dockside blast in Mumbai killed all 18 aboard another submarine last August, raising concerns over India’s ageing fleet and crew training.
Seven of the 94-strong crew were evacuated after inhaling smoke aboard the diesel-powered INS Sindhuratna.
Commander Rahul Sinha, a naval spokesman, said the source of the smoke had been removed, but declined to give details.
“When there is a fire in a submarine, the smoke is extremely toxic. There will be time before we enter the compartments completely,” Sinha said. The two officers could not be accounted for 12 hours after the incident.
Without apportioning direct blame, the government said Joshi had taken “moral responsibility for the accidents and incidents which have taken place during the past few months.”
Defence analysts said crew members in the Indian navy were not getting enough training on one type of vessel before moving to another, increasing risks that minor incidents could have fatal consequences.
“It’s an ominous situation,” said Uday Bhaskar, a fellow at Delhi’s National Maritime Foundation. “The Indian navy is going through a blighted phase.”
The INS Sindhuratna, a Soviet-built Kilo class vessel, was commissioned in 1988.
After smoke was spotted at 6am yesterday, crew members sealed the compartments and rescuers airlifted the seven who had inhaled smoke to a naval hospital where their condition is stable, said Sinha.
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