NEW DELHI: The Navy is continuing its massive search for the four missing personnel who were among the 29 on board the A-72 torpedo recovery vessel (TRV), which sank around 35 nautical miles south of Visakhapatnam on Thursday. The Navy has deployed nine warships, P-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft, Dornier planes as well as Sea King 42C and Chetak helicopters in the operation but is yet to trace the officer (a commander-rank naval armament expert), two divers and a sailor who are were found missing after the TRV sank around 8 pm on Thursday.
While 24 people on board the vessel were rescued by another warship, destroyer INS Ranjit, in the vicinity, the only confirmed victim till now has been identified as POME (petty officer, mechanical engineer) James Jacob. The 112-tonne A-72 sank to the seabed, which is at a depth of 370-metre in the area, much beyond the reach of divers.
"The search is now being conducted 120 nautical miles south-west of the vessel's last known position. None of the four missing have been found so far," said an officer on Sunday morning. Though the normal crew strength of such a TRV is 13, the ill-fated vessel was carrying some DRDO scientists and naval armament experts to evaluate the firing of practice torpedoes during the naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal.
As reported by TOI earlier, a board of inquiry (BoI) headed by a captain has been constituted to investigate the circumstances which led to the mishap. As per initial reports, the probable reason for sinking of the vessel seems to be the ingress of sea-water or flooding in the engine room and the aft steering compartment of the 23-metre long TRV. "The 'seals' around the propeller shafts could have malfunctioned," he added.
The first alarm was sounded on board A-72 — which had undergone 27 minor, medium and major refits since it was commissioned in 1983 — at about 6.30pm. With power failure been reported soon after, desperate attempts by the crew failed to stop the flooding of their vessel. With the vessel listing dangerously to one side, the captain, Lieutenant Commander Rohan Kulkarni, gave the order to "abandon ship" before it finally sank at 8pm.
While 24 people on board the vessel were rescued by another warship, destroyer INS Ranjit, in the vicinity, the only confirmed victim till now has been identified as POME (petty officer, mechanical engineer) James Jacob. The 112-tonne A-72 sank to the seabed, which is at a depth of 370-metre in the area, much beyond the reach of divers.
"The search is now being conducted 120 nautical miles south-west of the vessel's last known position. None of the four missing have been found so far," said an officer on Sunday morning. Though the normal crew strength of such a TRV is 13, the ill-fated vessel was carrying some DRDO scientists and naval armament experts to evaluate the firing of practice torpedoes during the naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal.
As reported by TOI earlier, a board of inquiry (BoI) headed by a captain has been constituted to investigate the circumstances which led to the mishap. As per initial reports, the probable reason for sinking of the vessel seems to be the ingress of sea-water or flooding in the engine room and the aft steering compartment of the 23-metre long TRV. "The 'seals' around the propeller shafts could have malfunctioned," he added.
The first alarm was sounded on board A-72 — which had undergone 27 minor, medium and major refits since it was commissioned in 1983 — at about 6.30pm. With power failure been reported soon after, desperate attempts by the crew failed to stop the flooding of their vessel. With the vessel listing dangerously to one side, the captain, Lieutenant Commander Rohan Kulkarni, gave the order to "abandon ship" before it finally sank at 8pm.
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