WHERE?
The submarine collided with merchant vessel 140 nautical kms north west of the Mumbai coast and south of Diu on Monday afternoon. There were 50 sailors on board the submarine but there was no casualty in either of the two vessels, officials said.
An Indian Navy officer, who did not want to be named, admitted that the merchant vessel was not at fault owing to the very nature of submarine operations. The submarine is supposed to ply undetected and it does not communicate with alien vessels, the officer explained.
At the time of the collision, the submarine was plying in shallow waters of the Arabian sea at periscope depth when the large merchant ship grazed over it damaging the submerged vessel's aerial radar and fin, sources here said. It was on "normal operational deployment," it was added. The Navy described the damages as minor.
A LITTLE ABOUT THE SUBMARINE
The INS Sindhughosh is a kilo class submarine built by Russia that underwent a complete refit in 2005. It is among the best that the Indian Navy has and can launch anti-ship and anti-land missiles.
Sindhughosh class is one of the three diesel-powered submarine classes in the Indian Navy was made on name Ghosh.
Ten 'Project 877' submarines, known in India as the 877EKM or Kilo class submarine or Sindhughosh class, were built under a contract between Rosvooruzhenie and the Ministry of Defence (India).
The final unit was the first to be equipped with the 3M-54 Klub [SS-N-27] antiship cruise missiles with a range of 220 km. They have a displacement of 3,000 tonnes, a maximum diving depth of 300 meters, speed of up to 18 knots, and are able to operate solo for 45 days with a crew of 53.
THE NAVY'S TROUBLESOME RECORD
In April 2006, Indian Naval ship INS Prahar sank off the Goa coast after a collision with a merchant vessel. Before that, the stealth frigate INS Trishul had collided with a merchant vessel Ambuja Laxmi outside the Mumbai harbour on December 27, 2005.
Here's wishing INS Sindhughosh a speedy recovery...
