INS Konkan will take months to repair

A day after Navy’s leading minesweeper,the INS Konkan caught fire in Vizag,a board of inquiry was set up to access the loss suffered on the vessel with sources saying that extensive damage has been reported from the warship’s interiors.

The Konkan,one of the latest of the Pondicherry class of mine countermeasure vessels operated by the Navy,is now expected to take several months to repair at the dry dock where it caught fire. The ship was undergoing a refit when a fire broke out in its engine room and engulfed much of its interiors before it was doused by fire fighters.

While the Navy has described the incident as “minor”,sources said a lot of damage has occurred specially to the cabling of the ship that will most likely need to be replaced.

A board of officers has also been set up to get an estimate of the damage suffered. Of special concern are the engines of the warship that have also been affected by the fire.