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INS Brahmaputra fire leads to wider safety review
Navy chief sets up task force to review safety procedures after fire on INS Brahmaputra; PM Modi emphasizes accountability for accidents in armed forces.
In the wake of the fire accident on board the INS Brahmaputra on July 21, navy chief Admiral Dinesh Tripathi has set up a special task force (STF) under Naval Headquarters to review the safety, security and standard operating procedures of the Indian Navy, according to people aware of the matter. Headed by a Rear Admiral, the STF is expected to submit its report in the next 60 days.
While the navy remains tight-lipped about the incident, Admiral Tripathi has given his preliminary assessment about the INS Brahmaputra fire incident to defence minister Rajnath Singh after his visit to the accident site on July 23, the people cited above said. The Prime Minister’s Office and the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) have also been briefed about the fire on the warship at Mumbai Naval Dockyards.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at a high-level meeting with the armed forces on January 13, had made it clear that he wanted accountability for all accidents and laid stress on the maintenance of expensive naval platforms, the people said. He had conveyed to CDS General Anil Chauhan and then navy chief Admiral K Hari Kumar that before the Indian Navy acquires new platforms, it should ensure that all the present platforms are kept fighting fit. Modi had also expressed concern over wasteful expenditure due to laxity in some instances. Taking the PM’s instructions in mind, Admiral Tripathi had sent a three-page confidential message to the entire navy on June 4 highlighting the need for safety on ships.
Read more: Navy chief reviews damage to warship INS Brahmaputra at Mumbai dockyard
INS Brahmaputra, a 3,850-tonne guided missile frigate built at the cost of ₹450 crore, was undergoing a major refit at the Naval Dockyards (since February 2024) when a section of vessel caught fire. While a Board of Inquiry has been set up to examine the accident and fix accountability, people aware of the matter indicated that the fire happened while welding was going on in one of the sections below the deck. One sailor lost his life and two others were injured in the fire, which started on the evening of July 21 and was extinguished on July 22, by when the vessel had listed at a 45 degree angle on the port (left) side. At the time of the incident, the vessel was in the habour and under the Western Naval Command, and the firefighting operations were coordinated by the same command. Navy chief Tripathi rushed to Mumbai as soon as the fire on the ill-fated frigate was doused and was at the accident site for inspection.
While the Naval Headquarters and the defence minister have got a prima facie assessment of the accident, the STF will examine the existing procedures to prevent fire, flooding and grounding of naval platforms, and suggest innovations to plug existing gaps. The STF will also review the safety, security and organisation across the navy and make recommendations to the Naval Headquarters. This will include auditing equipment, personnel, training and standard operating procedures on the safety front, and examining naval bases on the security front.
People aware of the matter said that the STF has also been given the mandate to examine and recommend guidelines to tackle sabotage, and existing and emerging threats.
While it is likely to take at least two months to get the frigate to dry dock from the current position, the defence minister and the navy chief are concerned about accidents at Mumbai Naval Dockyards in the past decade, the people said. In December 2016, INS Betwa, a Brahmaputra-class frigate, slipped on the dock blocks in a freak accident while undergoing repairs in the Mumbai dockyard.
