Submarine collision: found guilty, Navy Commander quits

The Commander of a Navy Submarine that was involved in an accident with a merchant ship in the Arabian Sea in January...

The Commander of a Navy Submarine that was involved in an accident with a merchant ship in the Arabian Sea in January has quit the service after a Board of Inquiry held him responsible for the incident.

Naval Commander Narendra Kumar, who was the Commanding Officer of the Russian origin Kilo Class Submarine INS Sindhughosh when it brushed against a massive cargo ship during a routine exercise off the Gujarat coast, put in his papers last month.

Sources in the Navy said the officer, who was posted to administrative duties in Delhi after the incident, decided to quit the Navy rather than face a Court Martial where he was set to be dismissed from service.

The Board of Inquiry, which was set up immediately after the incident, concluded that as Commander of the submarine, Kumar could not escape responsibility for the accident that caused damage to the fins, periscope and aerials of the naval vessel. Sources indicated that the second in command of the submarine would also put in his papers, taking responsibility for the failure.

A major tragedy was averted on January 17 when one of the most advanced submarines of the Navy collided with a foreign merchant ship, MV Leeds, in the Arabian sea during a training exercise.

The diesel powered submarine brushed aside the massive cargo ship as it was trying to surface in shallow waters during the Western Fleet war games. All 53 crew members on board escaped unhurt but the submarine suffered damaged and will remain out of service for several months.

As it was taking part in a simulated wargame where it had to evade the 8216;enemy8217; in 8216;restricted waters8217;, the submarine had switched off sonar and its radar was not transmitting any signals. While the vessel performed a periscope scan before proceeding to surface, its commander failed to detect the merchant ship.

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8220;The submarine was operating at a precarious depth and could not dive to escape due to the restricted waters,8221; a Navy officer had then said. The merchant ship, that wasn8217;t damaged in the incident, was not found at fault as it was operating as per the rules of the sea.

Scare on the high seas

8226; 2005: Speeding stealth frigate INS Trishul got extensively damaged after a collision with a merchant vessel off the Mumbai coast

8226;April 2006: INS Prahar sunk off the Goa coast after colliding with merchant ship MV Rajiv Gandhi.

8226;September 2006: Guided missile frigate INS Dunagiri had a close shave after it struck a glancing blow with a Shipping Corporation of India merchant vessel off the Mumbai coast