An amphibious assault warship suffered damage after it ran aground off the Vishakhapatnam coast last week, bringing the navy’s worrying safety record under further scrutiny.
The latest mishap involving INS Airavat, a platform capable of transporting men and equipment to launch a beach assault, takes the navy’s warship accident tally to eight since the INS Sindhurakshak blew up and sank at a Mumbai harbour last August, killing all 18 men on board.
The news comes in on a day HT reported that the navy’s failure to keep its main harbour channel navigable in Mumbai may have risked operations and also led to a few vessels running aground.
An unreasonable delay in awarding a crucial dredging contract to keep the approach to the Mumbai naval base clear has raised serious concerns about safe passage of boats in the shallow waters.
The INS Airavat is the third warship to hit the seabed in less than a month.