The second Board of Inquiry (BOI) constituted by the Defence Ministry to probe the feasibility of reusing INS Sindhurakshak has recommended decommissioning of the kilo-class submarine. In its report, the BOI said “the submarine is not seaworthy and hence not fit to sail again,” a senior Navy officer privy to the report told The Hindu . In August 2013, a massive fire broke out on Sindhurakshak followed by a series of explosions, killing all 18 Navy personnel, including three officers, aboard. The 3,000-tonne submarine sank in the South Breakwater in Mumbai’s naval dockyard within hours of the incident. “The BOI has found out that the massive fire on the submarine caused by its missiles and torpedoes would have damaged the hull of the submarine making it unfit for the sea,” said the officer. “It has, therefore, recommended its decommissioning but that decision rests with the Defence Ministry.” In January this year, the Navy entered into a contract with the Indian arm of the U.S.-based firm Resolve Marine for Rs. 240 crore to conduct salvage operations. The submarine was finally retrieved from the waters in June and handed over to the Navy. Since then it has been anchored at the Naval Dockyard in south Mumbai. Thereafter, two set of tests were conducted on her — one to ascertain the cause of the accident and the other to decide the scope of the work needed to make it seaworthy. Meanwhile, in April, an interim report was submitted by the first BOI to the Ministry, detailing six probable causes of the accident. After the submarine was fit to float, a second probe was ordered. “During the tests we weighed the option if the submarine could be sunk at least 50-metre deep. Even having her in that condition would deter our enemies but the amount of damage it had sustained makes it vulnerable to accidents,” another Navy official explained.
MOSCOW, July 25. /ITAR-TASS/. India has asked Russia to upgrade two its submarines, director-general of the Rubin Central Maritime Design Bureau Igor Vilnit said on Friday.
“The Indian governments filed a request to the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation to extend the life of two Russian Kilo Class submarines (Type 877EKM),” he said.
Specialists of the Zvyozdochka ship repair centre and the Rubin design bureau are expected to leave for India to inspect the first submarine.
“We’re optimistic about military-technical cooperation with the new Indian government,” Vilnit said.
Russia and India develop military-technical cooperation since the mid 1960’s. In the mid 1990’s Russia and India signed an interstate agreement on military-technical cooperation. The ten submarines were supplied to India’s Navy from 1986 to 2000.
Patrick H. 's insight:
On pourra rappeler que le dernier sous-marin indien du même type qui a fait l'objet d'une modernisation sur ce chantier est l'INS Sindurakshak qui a coulé à quai à Bombay suite à des explosions dont l'origine reste encore à déterminer et qui vient d'être renfloué :
A salvage firm raised the stricken naval submarine INS Sindhurakshak in Mumbai harbour on Tuesday evening.
Sources say the submarine, which exploded and sank on August 14 last year killing 18 crew members, was slowly lifted from the harbour floor where it lay for nearly 10 months and placed it on a special barge. Indian naval personnel hoisted the naval ensign on the submarine.
The salvage comes ahead of Defence Minister Arun Jaitley's visit to the Mumbai dockyard on Saturday where he will visit aircraft carrier INS Viraat and commission two Coast Guard patrol vessels Achook and Agrim.
A navy spokesperson would only confirm that the salvage operation was underway. "The entire operation might take between 48 and 72 hours," the spokesperson informed.
A notice on the website of the salvage firm, Resolve Marine, said a team of Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) experts had successfully disarmed live ordnances onboard the submarine. 'Resolve is now planning to use its custom-built chain pullers to raise the submarine and return it to the Indian Navy on a specially modified barge,' the notice said.
The salvage of the 2,300- tonne submarine will finally allow the naval Board of Inquiry to move ahead on establishing the cause of the explosion, naval officials said.
The explosion is believed to have originated in one of the forward compartments that contained torpedoes and missiles. The submarine was being loaded with armament when the explosion took place shortly past midnight on August 14.
"By studying the wreckage, torpedoes and missiles, we will know the exact sequence of events that led to the blast," a naval official said.
Vice Admiral K.N. Sushil, a veteran submariner and the former Southern Naval commander, says the navy should constitute a special team comprising of naval architects and chemical analysts to minutely study the Sindhurakshak wreckage like forensicologists would study a crime scene. "It is critical to establish the cause of the blast because many of our operational procedures may have to be revised," he says.
The navy awarded the contract to salvage the submarine to Resolve Marine Group, the Indian subsidiary of an American firm, for Rs.240 crore. The salvage is to be completed before the onset of the south-west monsoons this month. It is unlikely the submarine will ever return to service.
What the navy plans to do with the Sindhurakshak:
1. Remove silt from the first compartment where torpedoes and missiles were stored. The blast was supposed to have originated here. 2. Look for clues on what triggered the blast that destroyed the submarine. 3. Step back and study the damage to reconstruct the sequence of events.
Patrick H. 's insight:
Le contrat pour cette opération avait été signé en février dernier :
NEW DELHI — Following the fire on the Indian Navy’s frontline submarine, the Indian Defence Ministry is contemplating fast-tracking a second midlife upgrade for its Russian-made Kilo-class submarines in order to extend the life of its inventory by 15 years.
After the fire on the Sindhurakshak, in which the submarine partially sank, the Navy is left with only 13 conventional submarines, including four aging German-made HDW submarines. MoD sources said talks have already begun with the Russians for a second upgrade of the Kilos.
An Indian team has visited Russia to explore the idea of an upgrade, sources said, but no details are available. The Sindhurakshak arrived in India in April after an upgrade in Russia.
Of the 13 submarines, only six or seven are operational.
Russia has built 10 Kilo-class submarines for the Indian Navy and has already overhauled five of them: the Sindhuvir, Sindhuratna, Sindhughosh and Sindhuvijay. Sindhurakshak is damaged beyond repair, Indian Navy sources said.
The Indian Navy is upgrading the four HDW Type 1500 submarines at a cost of more than $300 million. Two of the German submarines have been upgraded, while the remaining two are under refit at Naval Dockyard Mumbai.
Two of the four HDW submarines were built in the 1980s at Mazagon Docks Limited Mumbai, and the remaining two were built at HDW facilities in Germany.
After HDW was blacklisted in 1987, the assembly line of Mazagon Docks Limited was no longer used until the French Scorpene submarine project was revived in 2005.
The refit will involve replacement of the weapon control system, data link system, torpedoes and missiles on the submarines.
La Marine indienne n'a formulé aucune réclamation lors de la réception du sous-marin militaire Sindhurakshak, modernisé et rénové en Russie, a indiqué à RIA Novosti un porte-parole du chantier d'entretien Zvezdotchka, qui a effectué les travaux.
"Le contrat de rénovation et de modernisation du sous-marin a été signé en juin 2010. Il a été remis [à la partie indienne] en janvier 2013. Au cours des travaux, nous avons installé à son bord un système de missiles Club ainsi qu'une série de systèmes de fabrication étrangère, dont indienne.
Il s'agit de systèmes de navigation, de commination, de refroidissement et d'accumulateurs. Nous avons effectué les travaux conformément au règlement", a indiqué l'interlocuteur de l'agence.
Selon la source, plusieurs problèmes ont été révélés lors des tests du submersible. Le chantier Zvezdotchka les a éliminés. Au cours de la signature de l'acte de remise-réception, la partie indienne n'a formulé une quelconque réclamation.
Une explosion suivie d'un incendie s'est produite dans la nuit de mardi à mercredi à bord de l'INS Sindhurakshak.
Rénové et modernisé par la Russie, l'INS Sindhurakshak a été remis à la marine indienne le 26 janvier dernier. Il s'agit d'un sous-marin du projet 877 EKM (version export du projet Paltus/Kilo selon la classification de l'Otan) construit aux chantiers navals Admiralteïskie Verfi de Saint-Pétersbourg en 1995 sur demande de la Marine indienne
Since January 27, a law came into force in Russia which regulates trade navigation via the Northern Sea Route. Thus, now, this route is legally recognized to be under Russia’s control. Experts say that in several years from now, the Northern Sea Route will most likely become the main artery connecting Europe and Asia.
The political and economic importance of the Arctic region in increasing with each coming year, and it very good news for Russia that after a long break, it is starting to explore and exploit this region again. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation became its legal successor. But until recently, Russia’s authorities paid little attention to the development of the Arctic, because there were too many other problems to be solved.
Things started to change only several years ago. Recently, Russia’s authorities announced that developing the Arctic Region, and, in particular, the Northern Sea Route should be one of Russia’s top priorities.
Besides the Northern Sea Route, the main alternative way from Europe to Asia by sea is via the Suez Canal. But the Northern Sea Route is twice shorter and much safer, and, thus, it is small wonder that more and more European companies are now starting to prefer to deliver their goods to Asia by the Northern Sea Route. The main obstacle on this route is ice – but there is every reason to hope that with the current rapid development of a fleet of icebreakers in Russia, the ice cover of northern seas will soon become a minor problem. At present, several icebreakers are being built in Russia, including a nuclear one....
...The INS Sindhurakshak, which was repaired in the Russian city of Severodvinsk, will return to India by the Northern Sea Route. On the way, the submarine will be accompanied by several Russian icebreakers.
Within the last 3 years, the number of ships sailing by the North Sea Route has increased 10 times.
According to experts’ estimates, the amount of transit transport by the Northern Sea Route may reach 6 million tonnes in a year in the eastern direction, and 3 million tonnes in a year – in the western.
Russia is pinning much hope on the new port, which is now being built on the Yamal Peninsula, which is washed by the northern sea of Kara. It is expected that this port will be a relay point on the Northern Sea Route.
The commanding officer of INS Sindhurakshak is likely to be tried by a court martial for alleged lapses that led to the sinking of the Russian-made Kilo-class submarine last year with 18 personnel onboard.
A navy source said the warship’s captain would face disciplinary action for fatal lapses in safety that led to the sinking of the 2,300-tonne fully-armed boat at a Mumbai harbour on August 14, 2013, barely seven months after it had undergone a Rs. 815-crore upgrade in Russia.
The punishment could range from loss of seniority, retirement benefits and even dismissal from service.
A probe has found that the accident took place due to a torpedo blowing up in the weapons compartment. “It seems to be a case of mishandling of weapons. The inquiry has ruled out sabotage,” the source said.
The navy had retrieved the submarine two months ago at a cost of Rs. 240 crore.
The Sindhurakshak’s CO (a middle-ranking commander) is the latest head to roll for mistakes that caused mishaps and tarnished the navy’s image. At least 25 personnel, including 16 officers, are facing action for lapses that led to accidents under their watch.
Those in the line of fire are linked to mishaps involving aircraft carrier INS Viraat, Russian-built stealth frigate INS Talwar, Kilo-class submarine INS Sindhuratna and patrol boat INS Tarasa. Five officers and a sailor have been blamed for the fire onboard INS Viraat last September. A board of inquiry into the INS Sindhuratna mishap, which led to Admiral DK Joshi’s resignation on February 26, has recommended that three officers, including a commodore, be tried by a court martial.
Four officers and two sailors have been held responsible for the INS Talwar accident — it had slammed into a trawler last December. Also, three officers and four sailors are facing action for a fire onboard INS Tarasa last July.
New Delhi: The complex salvage operation to "fish out" INS Sindhurakshak and carefully extricate its unexploded missiles and torpedoes is now finally kicking off, six months after the 3,000-tonne submarine sank due to internal explosions and killed three officers and 15 sailors at the Mumbai naval dockyard. Defence ministry sources on Wednesday said the almost Rs 240 crore salvage contract has been inked with Resolve India, a subsidiary of the US-based Resolve Marine Group, which has to bring its "salvage masters and dive support teams" as well as heavy-duty equipment to the mishap site within 45 days. The actual salvaging could take another three-four months. "It will be a challenging task since the submarine, with internal deformation due to the series of explosions in the forward weapons compartment, is submerged in eight metres of water. It cannot be simply lifted out since its structural integrity is suspect. The room for manoeuvre is also limited due to the limited depth," said a source. Moreover, the Kilo-class submarine still has the bulk of its torpedoes and Klub-S missiles strewn inside after being dislodged from their six firing tubes and 12 racks in the boat's nose. INS Sindhurakshak was fully-loaded with 18 missiles and torpedoes since it was to head for a long patrol just a few hours after the mishap took place on August 14. There is little likelihood of the missiles and torpedoes being "unstable" since they have already been exposed to explosions, high pressure and temperatures, apart from being underwater for such a long time. "But handling of unexploded ammunition is always a tricky job," said an expert. The Navy will be able to complete its pending board of inquiry (BoI) only after forensic and other examination of the submarine take place. As reported earlier, preliminary findings indicated it was "an accident or inadvertent mishandling of ammunition" that caused things to spiral out of control with some missile and torpedo warheads exploding in "sympathetic detonation". INS Sindhurakshak, incidentally, had returned to India in April last year after undergoing an over two-year "mid-life medium refit-cum-upgradation" in Russia at a cost of $156 million. When the submarine was inducted in December 1997, it had cost $113 million, as was first reported by TOI. The accident punched a big hole into the Navy's underwater combat arm, leaving it with only 13 aging diesel-electric submarines - nine Kilo-class of Russian origin and four HDW of German-origin. Only half of them are operational at any given time.
One point need to be emphasised upfront with regard to the sinking of INS Sindhurakshak after explosions and fire on 14 August while the 16-year-old submarine, bought from Russia, was docked at Mumbai naval dockyard: the incident will not affect Indo-Russian ties.
As of now, there is nothing to suggest in the power corridors of New Delhi that Indians are going to play the blame game with the Russians as the 2300-tonnes diesel-powered vessel had last year returned from Russia after a substantial upgrade, costing $ 18 million. On the contrary, the Indian officials find the Russians very cooperative.
On Friday, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who is also in charge of the Russian defence industry, made twin offers to India: to help India probe the causes of the submarine explosion by sending Russian specialists and to strengthen Indian Navy’s muscle power depleted by the loss of INS Sindhurakshak. This is what Rogozin said: “Whatever the outcome [of the Sindhurakshak blast probe], India remains our leading partner, not just only in the off-the-shelf purchases of weapon platforms…India is our premier partner for the long haul in co-development of military hardware. We will help India build up its capabilities in this sphere.”
Russia can offer immediate help to India in two very important ways: (i) first, by giving midlife-upgrade to India’s already aging nine Kilo class submarines which can increase their combat life by at least seven to eight years; and second, by leasing to India three or four nuclear submarines like it has already leased INS Chakra to India. There is a strong possibility that India will go to the Russians on both these points.
The first is a time consuming affair and it will take two to three years from the day an agreement to that effect is finalised. The negotiations for this agreement will be tortuous as the upgrade of the Kilo class submarines will cost somewhere around $ 100 million to $ 200 million as the upgrade would necessarily entail equipping the boats with latest avionics, sonar systems and missiles.
The second is a faster way of getting the Russian help. Both the options will have to be exercised simultaneously by India in the larger national interest. The Indian Navy’s minimum requirement for an effective China-Pakistan naval deterrent is of at least 20 submarines. With the loss of INS Sindhurakshak, the submarine fleet has got reduced to just 13. India has not bought any new submarine for last 16 years and the last induction of a submarine in Indian Navy was on 5 April, 2012 in the form of the Russian-leased nuclear submarine INS Chakra.
Plan A will give value for money as once the Kilo class submarines are done with midlife-upgrade, these boats will definitely become deadlier steel sharks. This will obviously have to be done in a phased manner as India cannot send all its nine Kilo class submarines to Russia for an upgrade at the same time for operational reasons.
Plan B – taking on lease more nuclear submarines from Russia – will provide more teeth to the Indian Navy but it will also be far more expensive. INS Chakra has come on a ten-year lease from Russia with the price tag of $1 billion. Presuming that Russia will lease more nuclear subs to India at the same price – an improbable possibility – three nuclear submarines’ lease would be costing over $ 3 billion.
If the Indian Navy has to look ahead it has to completely phase out all diesel-electric submarines in the next decade. It is an era of nuclear submarines and the Indian Navy must be already sensitized to the huge strategic and operational advantages of nuclear submarines over diesel-electric ones, like the Sindhurakshak was. A nuclear submarine allows a navy to remain under water for months on and gives a much more superior stealth advantage.
Both the above-mentioned options as well as the sinking of INS Sindhurakshak will dominate three top-level Indo-Russian bilateral engagements in the next two months – first a pull aside meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G 20 summit at St Petersburg (5-6, September), then the Indo-Russian Inter Governmental Commission – Military and Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC) meeting to be held between the two sides’ defence ministers in Moscow in October, and shortly later in the same month the 14th annual sumit between India and Russia in Moscow.
This writer understands that next month’s meeting between Singh and Putin will be for less than one hour and since the two leaders will be conversing with each other with the help of interpreters the meeting will be effectively for just about half an hour. However, even in this short duration, the INS Sindhurakshak will definitely come up for discussion and the two leaders may also have a brief look at the possible roadmap for near term Indo-Russian collaboration in this context and leave the matter to be clinched for the next two meetings.
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