Rammed warship catches fire, listing; probe ordered

MUMBAI - Nearly 24 hours after the Indian Navy’s warship INS Vindhyagiri collided with a cargo container ship MV Nordlake in Mumbai Harbour, it was listing and had run aground, an official said here Monday.

The accident took place when the naval frigate was entering the Mumbai Harbour after “A Day at Sea” for families of naval personnel and the loaded container-ship was navigating out of the harbour.

The vessel was moved into the naval dockyard and all the personnel and civilians aboard were evacuated.

Early Monday, a fire broke out on the ship which raged on for over 10 hours but had been brought under control by 1.30 p.m., the official said.

Fire fighters from the naval dockyard, Mumbai Port Trust and Mumbai Fire Brigade were involved in combating the blaze. Heavy smoke billowed out and officials attributed it to the burning of insulation material in the ship’s compartments.

Due to the fire and water filling up in some compartments, the ship had listed to one side but the degree of the tilt has not been announced.

The warship has sustained “some damage”, the extent of which is being assessed.

The official spokesman said that there was no oil spill inside the harbour due to the accident but the Indian Coast Guard is on standby. There was no disruption of shipping traffic in the main navigation channel where the collision occurred Sunday evening.

Even as the defence authorities are in the process of ascertaining the exact damage to the 28-year-old warship, the Directorate General of Shipping has ordered an inquiry into the incident.

A case has also been lodged with the Yellow Gate Police Station against the cargo container ship over the collision.