Mumbai: A sailor was missing after a major fire last night on Indian Navy's frontline frigate INS Brahmaputra at the Mumbai naval dockyard which has damaged it severely alongside tilting it to lie on one side, officials said on Monday.
A fire had broken on Sunday evening on board the ship while it was undergoing a refit at the naval dockyard, and the blaze was brought under control by this morning. Subsequently, on Monday afternoon, the ship, in a badly damaged condition, started tilting on the left (port) side as water entered it.
"Despite all efforts, the ship could not be brought to an upright position. The ship continued to list further alongside her berth and is presently resting on one side," a Defence Ministry statement on Monday evening.
All the naval personnel on it have been accounted for barring one junior sailor who is missing and a search has been launched for him.
The blaze was first detected by the ship’s on-duty staff when the maintenance works were being undertaken on board last evening. The ship’s fire-fighting team immediately launched a massive operation to control the conflagration and rushed reinforcements from the naval dockyard fire brigade beside other ships in the vicinity.
The Indian Navy has ordered an investigation into the incident and the blaze, the exact causes of which are not known yet.
Meanwhile, Navy chief Admiral Dinesh K. Tripathi has apprised Defence Minister Rajnath Singh of the fire incident and the damage caused to INS Brahmaputra, the Defence Ministry said.
Praying for the safety of the missing sailor, the Defence Minister has directed the Navy chief to take appropriate action in the matter.
IANS with edits