INS Vindhyagiri sinks after collision off Mumbai coast
Mumbai/New Delhi: The Indian naval ship, INS Vindhyagiri, that caught fire after collision with a foreign merchant vessel at the Mumbai harbour sank on Monday. INS Vindhyagiri was carrying family members of Navy personnel on board. There
have been no injuries as all the people were evacuated from the ship. The ship, however, suffered major damage to its engine. The merchant vessel did not suffer any
significant damage and may be held accountable. Fire tenders couldn't douse the fire
in INS Vindhyagiri due to presence of oil near the engine, resulting in sinking of the
ship. According to the officials, INS Vindhyagiri was returning to the dockyard while
merchant vessel Nord Lake was leaving Mumbai harbour when the two collided in
the harbour. Earlier in the day, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Nirmal Verma
commented on the use of the latest technology for preventing ship collisions at busy
harbours. "So I would say the answer lies in two pronged effort: one is that the
sunken wreck(s) should be removed. The other is, why have the ships sunk there?
Because it is also seen that some of the ships, perhaps were quite old and many of the
ports in the world, there they may not have been allowed entry, also," he said.
"So there has to be greater regulations as far as the age of ships that are permitted
inside, and I would say that more caution has to be exercised while ships go in and
out of harbour," he added.
His views come in the backdrop of a collision between INS Vindhyagiri and a
merchant ship, M. N. Nordlake.
INS Vindhyagiri (F42) was a Nilgiri class frigate of the Indian Navy. It was
commissioned into the Navy on July 8, 1981.
Meanwhile, Admiral Nirmal Verma termed Somali pirates moving their activities
closer to the Indian coast as a "disturbing trend".
The Navy and Coast Guard on Friday captured 15 Somalian pirates in one of the
biggest major anti-piracy operations, 75 miles off the coast of the Lakshadweep
Islands . They also rescued over 20 Thai and Myanmarese fishermen from the pirate
ship.
The pirates have been taken to Mumbai for detailed interrogation by a special team of
officials from top security and Intelligence agencies. The Navy's Fast Attack Craft
INS Canskaro intercepted the pirate mother vessel Prantalay in the Arabian Sea .
The pirates were using the Thailand registered fishing trawler as the 'mother ship'.
"One disturbing trend we found from the middle of last year, particularly from the
month of October and November, that some of the piracy incidents were happening
closer to our waters. We can say about 300 miles off the Indian mainland and 100
miles off the Minicoy and Lakshwadweep islands," said Admiral Verma on Monday.
"So what we have done since November last year, we have deployed larger number
of ships and crafts, both from the Navy and the Coast Guard, as well as surveillance
has set again from both the services to ensure our presence in this area," he said.
Reacting to the recent arrest of Somali pirates in joint operation led by the Navy,
Admiral Verma said that a larger deployment of forces could prevent such attacks.
"The ship, which was in action, was a small fast-attack craft. So they did pick up the
hostages with largely Thai and Myanmarese fishermen. The pirates are now being
taken to Bombay (Mumbai) and they must have arrived there, and the matter will be
prosecuted further," he said.
