A Board of Inquiry has been set up to ascertain the cause behind the blast that took place in an internal compartment of the destroyer ship docked in Mumbai
File image of INS Ranvir. PTI
An explosion in an internal compartment onboard INS Ranvir, at the Naval dockyard in Mumbai, killed three naval personnel on Tuesday evening, prompting authorities to order a probe into the incident.
Here’s what happened on Tuesday evening and we take a look at other such incidents that have occurred in the past.
INS Ranvir blast
Three sailors died of injuries and another 11 were hurt after an explosion on board Indian Navy’s destroyer ship INS Ranvir on Tuesday.
“In an unfortunate incident today at Naval Dockyard Mumbai, three naval personnel succumbed to injuries caused by an explosion in an internal compartment onboard INS Ranvir,” the Indian Navy’s statement noted.
According to sources, as per an NDTV report, the explosion occurred around 4:30 pm and had nothing to do with weapons or ammunition explosion.
INS Ranvir is a Soviet-era destroyer — commissioned in April 1986 — and among the oldest warships in the Navy.
“It was on cross-coast operational deployment from the Eastern Naval Command since November 2021 and was due to return to the base port shortly,” the Navy said.
Following the incident, the ship’s crew responded immediately and quickly brought the situation under control owing to which no major material damage has been reported.
Authorities have set up a Board of Inquiry to investigate into the cause of this incident.
The names of the killed sailors will be released at a later stage after informing the families of the affected, said authorities.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi condoled the death of Navy personnel onboard the Indian Naval Ship Ranvir and wished the injured a speedy recovery.
“The news of explosion onboard INS Ranvir is extremely sad. My condolences to the family and friends of the Navy sailors who’ve lost their lives. Wishing quick and complete recovery for the injured,” Gandhi said on Twitter.
Other incidents
Tuesday’s tragedy is the first major incident since June 2019 when a worker died in a fire on board the then under-construction Visakhapatnam destroyer at Mazagon dockyard.
While the contractual worker died due to asphyxia and burn injuries, another worker suffered ‘minor burn’ injuries.
In October 2021, the Indian Navy’s destroyer ship, INS Ranvijay, caught fire and flooding was reported onboard. The incident, in which four sailors were injured, took place when it was at the Visakhapatnam coast.
In August 2013, India suffered a very heavy blow when explosions on board INS Sindhurakshak caused the death of 18 sailors and the vessel to sink in Mumbai harbour.
The Print stated that the explosion and subsequent sinking of the INS Sindhurakshak was India’s biggest peacetime military loss.
The incident happened because critical Standard Operating Procedures, or SoPs, were violated, an internal inquiry into the incident had revealed.
The Chief of Naval Staff Robin Dhowan had told NDTV at the time, “Perhaps in not following certain procedures things could have gone wrong that led to accidents.”
With inputs from agencies
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