Salvage work on sunk submarine finally kicks off in Mumbai !

[Nova2]

Salvage work on sunk submarine finally kicks off in Mumbai - The Times of India

New Delhi: The complex salvage operation to "fish out" INS Sindhurakshakand carefully extricate its unexploded missiles and torpedoes is now finally kicking off, six months after the 3,000-tonne submarine sank due to internal explosions and killed three officers and 15 sailors at the Mumbai naval dockyard.
Defence ministry sources on Wednesday said the almost Rs 240 crore salvage contract has been inked with Resolve India, a subsidiary of the US-based Resolve Marine Group, which has to bring its "salvage masters and dive support teams" as well as heavy-duty equipment to the mishap site within 45 days. The actual salvaging could take another three-four months.
"It will be a challenging task since the submarine, with internal deformation due to the series of explosions in the forward weapons compartment, is submerged in eight metres of water. It cannot be simply lifted out since its structural integrity is suspect. The room for manoeuvre is also limited due to the limited depth," said a source.
Moreover, the Kilo-class submarine still has the bulk of its torpedoes and Klub-S missilesstrewn inside after being dislodged from their six firing tubes and 12 racks in the boat's nose. INS Sindhurakshak was fully-loaded with 18 missiles and torpedoes since it was to head for a long patrol just a few hours after the mishap took place on August 14.
There is little likelihood of the missiles and torpedoes being "unstable" since they have already been exposed to explosions, high pressure and temperatures, apart from being underwater for such a long time. "But handling of unexploded ammunition is always a tricky job," said an expert.
The Navy will be able to complete its pending board of inquiry (BoI) only after forensic and other examination of the submarine take place. As reported earlier, preliminary findings indicated it was "an accident or inadvertent mishandling of ammunition" that caused things to spiral out of control with some missile and torpedo warheads exploding in "sympathetic detonation".
INS Sindhurakshak, incidentally, had returned to India in April last year after undergoing an over two-year "mid-life medium refit-cum-upgradation" in Russia at a cost of $156 million. When the submarine was inducted in December 1997, it had cost $113 million, as was first reported by TOI.
The accident punched a big hole into the Navy's underwater combat arm, leaving it with only 13 aging diesel-electric submarines - nine Kilo-class of Russian origin and four HDW of German-origin. Only half of them are operational at any given time.

 

[kurup]

Sindhurakshak salvage: all eyes on technology

New Delhi, Feb. 14: With the navy having contracted a US-based firm to salvage its submarine that sank last August in Mumbai, the defence establishment is now watching the technology that will play out in the Western Naval Command to recover the boat.

The last major submarine-recovery operation was that of the Russian nuclear boat, the K-141 Kursk that sank in the Barents Sea in the year 2000. The Kursk was recovered nearly a year later from 130 metres below the surface by a conglomerate of companies led by a Dutch firm.

The Kursk was a much larger boat than India’s INS Sindhurakshak that sank at the South Breakwaterin Mumbai’s naval dockyard on August 14 in just about eight metres of water killing 18 of its crew.

It is suspected that a torpedo in the weapons compartment of the submarine exploded. The cause is yet to be precisely determined.

“Every such operation is unique,” said a naval officer. The US firm that has been contracted for about Rs 240 crore is the Resolve Marine Group that also has an Indian subsidiary.

The navy requires that the INS Sindhurakshak be preferably recovered “even-keel” — meaning with its right side up — and in one piece, lifted and be dry-docked. The salvage team will also have to clear the wreck of the submarine of unexploded ordnance.

“We assess that in six months the dangers of the unexploded ordnance — whatever is left — have probably been neutralised by the seawater but one can never be too sure,” said the officer.

Even before the salvagers have figured out how to pull out the Sindhurakshak, an understanding of what exactly happened to the boat would involve, broadly, four stages:

Breaking it free of the bottom: The Sindhurakshak has settled on the bed of the sea and its keel has buried itself into the seabed for about half a metre. The salvagers have to ensure that it comes unstuck. In effect, they have to devise a mechanism to prise out the 3,000-tonne submarine ensuring that in the process it does not tip over. The navy and the salvagers will have to look at de-watering technologies to make the submarine buoyant for this purpose.

Surfacing: The salvagers will then have to steady the boat and work on making it buoyant. This could involve welding hooks into its hull; then pass cables through the hooks to pull it to the surface. Alternatively, to make it buoyant, they may also fix slings around the hull. The salvagers could consider attaching pontoons to the submarine. The pontoons — buoyant devices for flotation — may have to be fashioned in a way that they can be “saddled” to the hull.

Lifting: This could involve both the attachment of the pontoons and pulling with cables attached to cranes that will have to be erected over the boat and spaced in such a manner that the wreck does not break, bend or twist. After it has been surfaced, it would have to be pulled free of the water and transported and placed in a dry-dock.

Assessment: It is in the dry-dock that investigators would be expected to comb through the wreck to determine what happened.

At every stage of the process the salvagers would have to take a call on whether to bring out the wreck in one piece — as the navy would prefer — or break it into compartments. That decision will be taken on the “integrity” of the hull. The explosions are reported to have twisted both the hull and the compartments in the innards of the Sindhurakshak.

Apart from the technological challenges involved in going through this entire process, one of the most difficult issues is the lack of visibility underwater in the naval dockyard. Navy divers have reported that just about a foot below the surface the water is so dark they are near-blind. The divers had to feel their way through the submarine in recovering the bodies — and their parts — of the 18 crew who were killed on August 14 when the Sindhurakshak went down.

In bringing up the Sindhurakshak’s wreck, every “dive” will be decided after checking tidal conditions. The actual lifting will also factor in wave motion. But in the waters of the dockyard that may not be a big factor.

The salvagers have told the navy that it would take at least 45 days to bring in the equipment they think the recovery will involve. Simultaneously, the divers and specialists from the company will be familiarised in detail with the EKM (Kilo)-class submarines in the naval fleet.

This has security compulsions that the navy is wary of. But the salvagers must know each and every compartment of the class of submarines to be able to “feel” their way about and through the wreck of the Sindhurakshak.

Apart from familiarising with the class of submarines that the Sindhurakshak belonged to, the salvagers will also “rehearse” the operation with a mock-up. The technology to be used will be determined through detailed computer simulation. The navy is reluctant to hazard a guess on how long it might take. After insistent questions one officer said it could take three to four months.

Sindhurakshak salvage: all eyes on technology

 

[kurup]

How could Sindhurakshak sink: Parl panel asks Navy

A baffled Parliamentary panel has asked the navy how could INS Sindhurakshak, a kilo-class submarine, explode and sink within months of undergoing a costly upgrade in Russia.

The 2,300-tonne fully-armed boat sank at a Mumbai harbour on August 14, 2013, barely seven months after it was overhauled at the Zvezdochka shipyard, part of the Unified Shipbuilding Corporation.

HT was first to raise questions about the quality of upgrade the warship underwent in Russia before it was handed over to the navy in January 2013. The upgrade was carried out at a cost of more than Rs. 815 crore.

In a report tabled in Lok Sabha Tuesday, the Parliamentary standing committee on defence asked the navy to take steps to reduce mishaps and protect the lives of trained crew --- 18 personnel were killed when the submarine went down.

The panel also asked the force to take measures to safeguard "sophisticated machines." It asked the navy to pinpoint the cause of the accident, as such incidents "would be catastrophic and adversely affect the morale of naval personnel" on other warships.

The Russian-origin warship is still nose-down in water, with the navy recently awarding a Rs. 240-crore contract to a US firm for salvaging the warship.

The Russian shipyard that upgraded the submarine under a 2010 contract had claimed it had installed advanced weapons and systems to enhance the boat's combat capability.

The mid-life upgrade on the warship --- the ninth in a series of 10 Kilo-class undersea killers bought from Russia ---- was intended to increase the life of the vessel by at least 10 years.

The submarine underwent an overhaul there for nearly 18 months. A modern Club-S missile system was installed on the submarine along with more than 10 foreign and Indian systems. The Russian shipyard has modernised five conventional Indian Navy submarines since 1997.

After the INS Sindhurakshak accident, defence minister AK Antony had asked the navy brass to "optimally operate" the country's assets and ensure these were not "frittered away."

Meanwhile, the Comptroller and Auditor General on Monday picked holes in the navy's refit management, arguing that "considerable delays" in carrying out repairs had led to warships not being available for operational roles.

How could Sindhurakshak sink: Parl panel asks Navy - Hindustan Times