Sinking of INS Sindhurakshak

[SQ8]

What were the new weapons these subs were to be outfitted with?

 

[gslv mk3]

Safety rules' violation puts question mark on India's capacity to operate nuclear submarines

stupid article to say the least.

 

[VelocuR]

stupid article to say the least.

Indian Navy Chief confirmed it.

Safety mechanisms on INS Sindhurakshak failed, admits Navy chief

Mumbai: One of Indian Navy's most advanced non-nuclear submarines, INS Sindhurakshak, exploded and sank on Wednesday in Mumbai. Three officers and 15 sailors on board are feared dead in what is being described as Navy's worst disaster in over three decades.

Navy chief Admiral DK Joshi admitted that safety mechanisms did not work on the fully-armed submarine, which is now resting its nose on the seabed eight metres down. The investigation into what triggered the explosions could take four weeks.
Here are the latest updates

1. INS Sindhurakshak exploded and caught fire after midnight on Wednesday, hours before its operational deployment. There were three explosions, which led to a fire.

2. "Quite obviously the safety mechanisms have not functioned," admitted the Navy Chief. The 16-year-old submarine was reportedly carrying heavyweight torpedoes and "Klub" anti-shipping and land attack missiles.

3. Grainy amateur video footage taken by a witness showed a fireball in the forward section of the Russian-made vessel, the place for weapons and battery units.

4. Today's disaster will have a big impact on the underwater combat capabilities of the Indian navy, which has an already depleted strength of 14 submarines though it needs 30.

5. The Sindhurakshak was handed over to India earlier this year after nearly two years of overhaul and refitting in Russia at the cost of 80 million dollars or 480 crore rupees. It was expected to serve the navy for at least 10 more years.

6. The vessel had been sent to Russia for a mid-life upgrade in 2010, months after a fire on board while it was docked in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. A 24-year-old sailor was killed in the fire.

7. A spokesman for the Russian company which overhauled the vessel said that India raised no objections when it was returned after testing in April. The submarine is still covered by a Russian warranty.

8. INS Sindhurakshak was built in 1997 at Saint Petersburg, for anti-submarine and anti-ship warfare, defending naval bases, securing coasts and sea lanes of communication, reconnaissance and maritime patrol operations.

9. The accident is set to overshadow scheduled talks between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a G20 summit in St. Petersburg in September.

10. Russia is still the biggest military supplier to India, but relations have been strained recently by major delays and cost over-runs with a refurbished aircraft carrier, the INS Vikramaditya.

 

[VelocuR]

INS Sindhurakshak tragedy: 6th body found, international firms help in rescue operation

August 18 2013

MUMBAI: Navy divers continued efforts to open the forward escape hatch on INS Sindhurakshak, for a third point of entry into the damaged submarine, even as sources said a sixth body was found on Saturday.

While efforts were on to recover the bodies of other sailors, all of whom are feared dead, salvage firms from countries like Norway and Singapore started assessing the mangled submarine. On Saturday, representatives of the firms visited the naval dockyard at Lions Gate and interacted with senior naval officials. Engineering major Larsen and Toubro is also learnt to have voiced interest. "The Indian Navy does not have the capability to salvage the submarine and very few firms have such expertise. Once these firms assess the situation, we will call in bids. It is not possible to give a deadline for salvage operations to get over," said a Navy spokesperson.

Late on Saturday, divers reportedly found the body of a sailor, the sixth to be retrieved so far. The body has been sent to JJ Hospital for DNA analysis and post-mortem.

On Friday, divers prised open the rear escape hatch which was submerged under water and jammed due to high temperatures. "Opening of the jammed forward escape hatch is also being attempted for an entry to the front portion of the submarine," said the Navy in a statement. "Due to zero visibility within the flooded compartments, divers are searching the submarine interiors by feeling each inch and also marking a probable route to be used for further rescue operations," the spokesperson said. Sources said the water around the submarine was still hot.

Salvage operations are quite time consuming and heavy equipment will be required to lift the 2,500-tonne submarine. Norwegian firms took over eight years to salvage the Russian submarine Kursk which sank to the bottom of the seabed in 2000 following an explosion which killed 118 sailors.

The Navy denied that it kept relatives of the sailors in the dark on the search activities. "We are keeping the relatives informed regularly and have also formed special family support teams of naval officers, sailors and members of the Navy Wives Welfare Association," the spokesperson said.

While the five-member board of inquiry under senior submariner Commodore Deepak Bhist has started investigations, sketchy details of the accident have emerged from the three survivors of INS Sindhurakshak. The submarine was scheduled to leave for a patrol on August 14 and the 18 sailors, including the three survivors, were pre-occupied with last-minute checks. Sources said all the six compartments, besides the front and rear escape hatches, were open to facilitate loading of food and other materials inside the submarine.

The survivors are learnt to have told senior Navy officers that loading of ordnance was almost over. The three were standing on the submarine and jetty when they heard the first torpedo explode. "They turned around to investigate the source of the blast when the second torpedo exploded. One of them got thrown into the water while the other two jumped into the sea," said a source.

The trio escaped with burns and was discharged after treatment. A Navy spokesperson said all the three survivors have since rejoined duty at the Naval dockyard.

 

[gslv mk3]

Indian Navy Chief confirmed it. .

Confirmed what?

 

[kurup]

What has Mumbai overcrowd to do with the accident?

Overcrowded with naval vessels not population .

What were the new weapons these subs were to be outfitted with?

Sindhurakshak was already modernised .

In August 2010, Sindhurakshak arrived at the Zvezdochka shipyard in Russia. The submarine was modernised, repaired and retrofitted under Project 08773, and after the upgrade the sea trials started in October 2012. The upgrades included improved electronic warfare systems, an integrated weapon control system and a new cooling system, and were expected to extend the service life of the submarine by ten years.The Club-S (3M54E1 anti-ship and 3M14E land attack) missiles, USHUS sonar, СCS-MK-2 radio communication systems and Porpoise radio-locating radar, and other safety-enhancing features were incorporated. The submarine was handed back to the Indian Navy on 27 January 2013, after which it sailed back to India, under Commander Rajesh Ramkumar. This was the first time an Indian submarine had navigated under ice.

 

[Nexus]

Safety rules' violation puts question mark on India's capacity to operate nuclear submarines

Sat, 17 Aug 2013

Quoting experts, Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozinhe said violation of safety regulations was the most probable cause of the accident

The nuclear watchdog, IAEA should be concerned about the quality of safety standards of Indian Navy while dealing with nuclear submarine and put it on monitoring and surveillance.

The Russian deputy PM was visibly upset on the incident. He said the blast had occurred in the section where storage batteries were being charged. This is the most dangerous work, which is connected with safety measures rather than with the producers of this equipment.

----------------

INS Sindhurakshak tragedy: Russia says it will assist India in submarine explosion probe

Updated: August 17, 2013 08:52 IST

Moscow: Russian naval engineers will help the Indian Navy in its investigation into the explosion on INS Sindhurakshak, the submarine which sank at the naval dockyard in Mumbai on Wednesday, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin has said.

The 16-year-old vessel, which had suffered an accident in 2010, had recently returned from Russia after a two-and-a-half year upgrade of its electronic warfare and integrated weapons control systems.

Mr Rogozin told Russian news agency Ria Novosti that Russian specialists do not see any technical failure as the likely cause behind the explosion.

Mr Rogozin, who looks after the defence industry, also added that he has instructed the United Shipbuilding Corporation, a state-owned ship building company, to provide all necessary assistance to India.

"I have instructed the United Shipbuilding Corporation to send more specialists in agreement with the Indian side, to take part in the investigation of the tragedy and to provide all assistance necessary to our Indian friends," he said.

There were 18 crewmen on board INS Sindhurakshak when it sank at the naval dockyard in Mumbai on Wednesday after an explosion. The Indian Navy said yesterday that the bodies of five sailors have been found, but cautioned that it does not expect divers battling zero visibility in the dark muddied waters inside the sunken submarine to locate any of the others.

my father's office is just 2 min away from Lion Get.

 

[Hafizzz]

Two bodies recovered from sunken Indian sub
Two bodies recovered from sunken Indian sub - English pravda.ru

Divers have recovered the bodies of two sailors from the sunken Indian submarine Sindurakshak that had sunk at the naval port of Mumbai.

On August 14th, a series of explosions occurred on board the Russian-made submarine. The explosions were heard in almost the entire southern part of Mumbai. It took ten fire vehicles several hours to extinguish the fire. The submarine sank, killing 18 crew members.

The work to raise the bodies from the sunken sub was moving very slowly. The explosions deformed the hatches of the submarine, making it hard to access some compartments of the submarine.

A leak of hydrogen when charging the battery, or violation of safety when loading missiles are said to be the main causes for the tragedy.

 

[SQ8]

In August 2010, Sindhurakshak arrived at the Zvezdochka shipyard in Russia. The submarine was modernised, repaired and retrofitted under Project 08773, and after the upgrade the sea trials started in October 2012. The upgrades included improved electronic warfare systems, an integrated weapon control system and a new cooling systemand were expected to extend the service life of the submarine by ten years.The Club-S (3M54E1 anti-ship and 3M14E land attack) missiles, USHUS sonar, СCS-MK-2 radio communication systems and Porpoise radio-locating radar, and other safety-enhancing features were incorporated. The submarine was handed back to the Indian Navy on 27 January 2013, after which it sailed back to India, under Commander Rajesh Ramkumar. This was the first time an Indian submarine had navigated under ice.

Apparently something did go terribly wrong if the Sub even had uprated safety systems.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

Apparently something did go terribly wrong if the Sub even had uprated safety systems.

Yes; something apparently did. My guess is in the Oxygen propulsion system cylinders in one of the Torps.

 

[SQ8]

Yes; something apparently did. My guess is in the Oxygen propulsion system cylinders in one of the Torps.

Loading slip? Could a fall or perhaps static set them off?

 

[Capt.Popeye]

Loading slip? Could a fall or perhaps static set them off?

Hard to be specific. But Hydrogen gas explosion from the Battery pit can probably be ruled out. Just as I'd rule out a problem in the Klubs.

 

[RISING SUN]

2 things were made clear 2 days after the accident but news sites are still living in stone age.
1st batteries were already recharged 3 days before the accident.
2nd all missiles have safety procedure while in port & they are removed only when boats are in its position out of port or on station.
So we can safely rule out these two reasons.

What worries me that there was a case of land attack missile launch in this accident although it didn't explode completely but was enough to cause minor blast & minor fire(minor fire because there was no inflammable material where it landed on jetty). After this major blast it's really hard to find what went wrong but I'm really uncomfortable as the media houses are spreading wrong rumors.

I have been to this place during navy day. Vikrant is sitting just across the very narrow channel where I had gone.

 

[Parul]

@WebMaster, @nuclearpak @Jungibaaz, @Oscar please merge the thread with:

http://www.defence.pk/forums/indian-defence/271272-sinking-ins-sindhurakshak-4.html

 

[scorpionx]

One sailor on board is the son of my colleague.He just crossed his 20's.