The captain of INS Airavat, the warship whose propeller was damaged irreparably while entering the Visakhapatnam port last week, has been relieved of his charge as the vessel's commander.
Commander JPS Virk has been removed - even as a probe ordered by the Navy into the incident is still underway - because the ship has been rendered unfit for operational deployment till the damage is repaired.
INS AiravatInitial investigation has hinted that it was the crew’s miscalculation that caused the ship to touch the bottom – which is when the propeller grazed against some object, suffering damage. It is still not clear what caused the damage but inspection of the ship has revealed that the propeller would have to be replaced.
The Shardul-class amphibious warship was returning to the eastern naval command headquarters from an official deployment at the time of the accident.
The incident took place when the 5,600-tonne ship was being manoeuvred through the narrow channel of the harbour. The mammoth size of the warship and limited breadth of the channel make berthing complicated because of restricted waters.
The ship, indigenously built at Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, entered service just five years ago in 2009, and has the capacity to transport troops and battletanks for amphibious assaults.
INS Airavat made news three years ago too when it passed through the troubled waters of South China sea on a visit to Vietnam.
This is the second time in as many months when the Navy has removed the captain of a warship following an accident involving the vessel.
Captain Gopal Suri, the skipper of INS Talwar, was relieved of his charge after the warship collided with an unlit fishing boat near Ratnagiri in December last year. At least 27 fishermen were rescued from the boat that suffered heavy damage in the accident. The Navy had also lodged an FIR against the owner of the fishing boat as it was not equipped for night operations. No damage was caused to INS Talwar which continues to be on deployment.
via India Today ,
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