INS Sindhurakshak mishap: Navy fails to meet probe deadline

New Delhi: The Navy has failed to meet the four-week deadline of completing its inquiry into the INS Sindhurakshak mishap and has not yet issued a tender to salvage the submarine.

Soon after the mishap, Navy Chief Admiral D K Joshi had said the Board of Inquiry under a Commodore-rank officer would conduct its probe and submit its report within four weeks. The deadline ended earlier this week. The tender to salvage the vessel would be issued very soon after the scene of the mishap was assessed by them, Navy officials said. The salvaging of the vessel is important for the investigators to find out the exact cause of the mishap, in which all 18 personnel on board are feared to have been killed. So far, only 11 bodies have been recovered by divers. The officials stated that the salvage operations may take even six months to be completed even after the Defence Ministry relaxing the Defence Procurement Manual rules for hiring a world class agency for the task. INS Sindhurakshak had returned in January after an upgrade by a Russian shipyard with an estimated cost of Rs 480 crore. PTI