2 Navy boats sink after fire, disaster averted

MUMBAI: Five vigilant Indian Navy personnel averted a major disaster by jumping into the waters off the Naval Dockyard after two indigenously built immediate support vessels (ISVs) caught fire early on Tuesday. Both vessels sank and the salvage operation began in the afternoon, but the vessels were yet to be winched out by evening.
ISVs have on-board heavy machine guns and advanced radar and navigation equipment, and can carry out day and night surveillance and rapid insertion and extraction of marine commandos for military intervention.
For almost six hours, the personnel fought a heavy downpour while sailing in the water and creating a distance from other vessels, after cutting and disengaging ropes of the anchored ISVs that had caught fire. Had they failed to do so, the blaze would have spread to half a dozen such vessels that were moored at the jetty as well as five to six latest warships that were anchored a few metres away.
The incident is a flashback to the August 14, 2013 fatal explosion on INS Sindhurakshak submarine at Dockyard, which killed 18 crew members on board. The defence spokesperson in Mumbai said prompt action by all concerned ensured there was no loss of life or damage to other naval assets in the harbour.