Defence Ministry orders probe into INS Kolkata mishap

Mumbai: The Defence Ministry on Saturday ordered a probe into the fatal mishap on advanced warship INS Kolkata at the Mazagaon Docks in Mumbai.

Gas leakage in an under-construction warship in the Mazagaon Docks, claimed the life of a Commander and hospitalisation of two dockyard employees. In the 11th incident in seven months stalking naval  assets, Commander Kuntal Wadhwa, 42, lost his life after he  inhaled carbon dioxide that was leaking from a malfunctioning  unit just a little after noon while undergoing trials in the  Mazagon Dockyard Limited (MDL), officials said.  

Two employees of the defence ministry shipyard also were  affected by the gas leakage and were taken to hospital, in the  second mishap to involve the navy in nine days. An MDL  official said they have been discharged.  

The Kolkata Class 'Yard-701' warship is yet to be  commissioned and was slated to be inducted into operational  service soon.   The Navy and the shipyard have set up separate boards of  inquiry into the incident. "Navy officer Kuntal Wadhva, 42, was declared dead  before admission in St George Hospital at 1317 hours. He was a  resident of Colaba and his relatives are coming from Thane,"  Additional CP Krishna Prakash said.  

The 6,800-tonne displacement warship ‘Yard-701’ is to be named INS Kolkata. Officials said there would be no delay in its scheduled commissioning on March 27 in spite of the accident. "Yard-701, being built by Mazagaon Docks Limited,  while undergoing machinery trials in Mumbai Port Trust had a  malfunction in its carbon dioxide unit, leading to gas  leakage," an MDL spokesperson said.   Prakash said that at about 1245 hours during fire  fighting testing, the CO2 bottle neck opened accidentally,  releasing the gas.   Last week, INS Sindhuratna had met with a fire accident  in which two officers lost their lives leading to the  resignation of former Navy Chief Admiral DK Joshi. 

The mishap took place just nine days after fire and smoke  incident on INS Sindhuratna off the Mumbai coast, in which two  officers lost their lives and seven sailors were taken ill.   Against the backdrop of the series of such mishaps,  Finance Minister P Chidambaram yesterday suggested that the  Defence Ministry was not spending funds allocated to it  "wisely" enough and that it should learn lessons from these  incidents.  

The biggest mishap occurred when the INS Sindhurakshak  sank inside the Mumbai harbour killing all 18 personnel on  board on August 14.   Earlier last month, INS Airavat, an amphibious warfare  vessel, ran aground after which the commanding officer was  stripped of his command duties.   After the sinking of the INS Sindhurakshak, one of the  mishaps involved INS Betwa which was damaged after probably  hitting some underwater object.  

India's leading minesweeper, the INS Konkan that was  undergoing repairs in Vizag, also caught fire and suffered  major damage to its interiors. The Pondicherry-class  minesweeper was getting a refit at a dry dock when the  incident occurred.   After the Sindhuratna incident on February 26, Navy Chief  Admiral D K Joshi resigned taking "moral responsibility" over  the spate of mishaps involving naval warships.

Two employees of the defence ministry shipyard were also injured and were taken to hospital. A Mazagon Dock Ltd (MDL) official said that they were later discharged.

The Navy said that a board of inquiry has been ordered to probe the causes of the accident. There were also certain reports that claimed that the naval officer was not wearing a gas mask which may have saved his life.