Submarine INS Sindhughosh grounded inside Mumbai harbour

mangaloretoday.com

Mumbai, Jan 17: For the Indian Navy’s submarine arm, already reeling under a crisis of numbers, Friday evening got a very rude jolt. A Kilo-class submarine, Indian Naval Ship (INS) Sindhughosh, while returning into the harbour, inside the naval dockyard, hit the ground and remained there. At the time of the incident, it was fully armed, carrying its entire compliment of nearly 70 personnel all of whom are reported safe.

 

When reached for a confirmation, a naval spokesperson denied this development.

However, confirmed information suggested that the incident had indeed taken place on account of the receding tide at around 5:30pm. It was also learnt that the submarine was to initially enter the harbour by 4pm, it got delayed and by then the low tide had set in.

As per the Mumbai’s municipal authorities, the timing for peak high tide on January 17 was at 1254hours to the height of 3.80m after which the tide began falling and it was at its lowest of 0.74m at 1847hours.

It was also learnt that at the time of writing, efforts were on from the Navy’s side to salvage the submarine inhouse using tugs and other equipment, to be used in tandem with the tide rising.

There is a possibility that owing to this, damage could occur to the sonar system as well as other parts of the hull. It was not immediately clear as to how deep the damage was.

- INS Sindhughosh is a Kilo-class submarine Type 877EKM, made in Russia

- INS Sindhughosh specialises in anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare capabilities

- Has diesel-electric propulsion system

- INS Sindhughosh was the first of its class to be inducted into the Indian Navy