INS Kolkata mishap won’t delay the delivery of the vessel

Mumbai: Even as Commander Kuntal Wadhwa, 42, who was killed in the carbon dioxide leak on board the INS Kolkata was cremated with full military honours on Saturday afternoon, the Mazgaon Docks Limited (MDL), which was in-charge of the ship as it was still to be handed over to the Navy, has clarified that the accident will not delay the commissioning of the ship which is slated to take place in a few months’ time.

"The incident will not delay the commissioning of the ship and everything will proceed as per schedule," said MDL public relations officer Parvez Pathanki.

The Indian Navy had kept the cremation ceremony, which took place at the Chandanwadi crematorium in Marine Lines, off limits for the press after a request from the deceased’s family.
The cremation ceremony was attended by Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (Western Naval Command) Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha.

The INS Kolkata was launched with the basic structure in 2012 following which it was ‘outfitted’ with external systems including the ‘multifunction radar’ (first of its kind in the Indian Navy), weapons systems and other equipments.

Since it still hasn’t been handed over to the navy, it is being called Yard 701. The commissioning of the ship will bring India on par with the international navies like the US, UK, France, Sweden, Russia and China, in having stealth battleships.