On 21 July, a fire broke out on the Indian Naval Ship, "Brahmaputra", a 3850-tonne missile frigate, while undergoing a refit in the Naval Dockyard at Mumbai. After a long fight, the fire was brought under control but the ship listed to its port side and finally toppled over to lie on its side against the jetty causing much damage to herself. The Navy is hopeful of righting the ship but it will take time, effort and money to salvage the ship and make it operational.
A Board of Inquiry (BoI) headed by a Rear Admiral has been ordered to look into the incident, find out the causes, affix blame and recommend steps to avoid such incidents in the future. Simultaneously, the Chief of the Naval Staff has set up a special task force to review safety, security and standard operating procedures of Indian Navy.
The incident is a strange one; fires occur and are fought, brought under control quickly or get out of hand to cause much damage and destruction. However, in this case, the fire was doused but so much water was poured into the ship that it caused its listing and capsizing. The matter needs a thorough examination which the BoI would do.
Subsequently, the Navy shall take corrective steps and punish the guilty.
But the media and armchair critics, with only a layman's knowledge of ships and the Navy and scant information of the incident, are already busy pre-judging the issue, bringing out supposed errors and incompetence, and laying blames on all and sundry from top to bottom of naval personnel.
Some said Navy should not be losing ships in peacetime. Apart from the false premise of insinuating that too many accidents are happening, it is also like saying that an IAF aircraft should not crash in peacetime. Incidents can be due to age, malfunction or human error. The cause needs to be investigated and corrective and, if required, disciplinary action taken whether in war or in peace.
The cost of salvaging and repairing the ship will be worked out. Loss of lives, however, is priceless and sadly the ship lost a sailor. We can console ourselves with that number but cannot replace the life lost.
The present incident is serious and deserves close scrutiny and strict action. That is why we should wait for facts and authentic information to emerge rather than wildly passing judgement and pointing fingers which would only detract from the seriousness of the incident. There should be no fear of a cover-up as the matter is in public knowledge and cannot be hidden. Nor would the Navy wish to do that as it would be aware that sharing its findings and action taken would be in its own interest as the public would know that the Navy has nothing to hide and means business.
This brings to mind an incident which occurred 63 years ago when I had just been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. I was posted on board the frigate "Gomati" and the ship was due for a refit. The naval dockyard had its hands full with other ships and Gomati had to await her turn lying alongside idly. One day in July 1961, our Captain happened to be in the Command Headquarters when a distress message was received from a merchant vessel, "Maharashmi". For some reason which I can't recall, the ship had lost power and was lying helpless at anchor off Port Albert Victor in Gujarat, a few hours of sailing from Bombay.
Eager to be of use rather than inactive alongside, the Captain volunteered to sail to tow Maharashmi back to Bombay. He returned to Gomati a very happy man and ordered the ship to get ready to sail.
We reached Port Albert Victor in the evening, located Maharashmi, communicated to her that we would take her in tow early morning, and anchored nearby. Our XO (second-in-command) went on the usual night rounds and discovered that there was a hole in the shipside causing water to leak in one of the aft magazines (ammunition compartment). Immediate action was taken to try and seal the leak and pump out water which, however, continued to leak in. After much effort and deliberation, it was decided that we should head back to Bombay independently before the situation worsened. We informed Maharashmi of our decision and set sail to Bombay.
Water continued to pour in faster than we could pump out and the stern of the ship kept going deeper into the sea. Along with stormy monsoon weather and rough seas, this affected the ship's speed which kept slowing down. The ship's staff worked constantly to keep patching up some new leaks and pumping out water. We managed to reach Bombay safely late into the next night with the seawater almost reaching our quarterdeck. We were immediately docked, the water pumped out and the leaks patched up.
What if Gomati had sunk? ( There would have been casualties- I know there was at least one non-swimmer on board!) Would the ship's staff have been blamed for not knowing what to do in case of a leak? Should the Captain have foreseen that perhaps the ship had a weak hull and would develop leaks and not volunteered to take on the noble task of going to the aid of a stricken ship? Should the Headquarters have foreseen this and not allowed the ship to sail?
Incidentally, it was finally decided that due to the heavy schedule of Naval Dockyard, Bombay, Gomati would undergo the refit at Garden Reach, Calcutta. After detailed examination, the ship was declared fit and we sailed from Bombay all the way to Calcutta stopping at Cochin, going around Sri Lanka and the choppy Gulf of Mannar on to Madras, and finally reaching our destination without any incident.
P.S. Admiral Chand would recall the Maharashmi incident; as a Lieutenant, he was the Navigating Officer (NO) on Gomati.
I was the NO on the Bombay-Calcutta trip.
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