Submarines collide in Naval dock

You may have heard of mid-air collision. But they can happen in the deep sea, too, and the credit for it goes to the Indian Navy.

A shocked Naval headquarters ordered an inquiry late of Friday night into the collision of two Kilo-class submarines at the Naval dockyard in Mumbai.

The Russian-made attack submarines, INS Sindhuratna and INS Sindhukesari, collided while attempting to berth alongside, thereby damaging the rudder of one.

The crew of both the vessels, more than 100-strong, escaped unhurt owing to the double hull of the 877 EKM Kilo-class attack submarines. However, the Navy has played down the incident and termed it as minor.

The repair of the damaged submarine would be carried out soon at the dockyard. The reason of the mishap being given is error of judgment while attempting to berth parallel, which is a normal practice in the dockyard for naval vessels.

The Indian Navy is already grappling with shortage of submarines, presently it is left with just 15 of them, with one Foxtrot-class de-commissioned on June 25 this year.

The remaining are 10 Kilo-class, four HDWs and one foxtrot-class submarine, out of which one Kilo-class, INS Sindhurakshak, has left for Russia for overhaul and modernisation.

Currently under construction, the first of the Scorpene would be launched only in 2015.

Earlier, too, there have been accidents on Kilo-class submarines. In 2008, INS Sindhughosh collided with a merchant vessel and damaged her conning tower, while INS Sindhurakshak had a fire onboard earlier this year.