Navy chief Admiral RK Dhowan on Wednesday said a “series of errors” including mishandling of explosives and other dangerous items like fuel could have led to explosions on board submarine INS Sindhurakshak on August 14 last year in Mumbai harbour killing all 18 crew members.
The Naval Headquarters has received the Board of Inquiry report about the cause of the mishap and experts are now analysing it, Dhowan said. "However, we have a fair idea about what went wrong onboard the submarine in the initial days after the accident and have taken remedial measures,” he said addressing the annual Press conference here on the eve of Navy Day.
He did not rule out that some crew members committed errors in not adhering to standard operating procedure in the submarine which is a “highly dangerous platform.” It has explosives and fuel in confined space and if procedures are not followed accidents take place, Dhowan said.
He also said this accident was serious “as it is not a normal situation for a submarine to explode when anchored inside harbour.” Following the mishap, safety audits and inspections were made more stringent with stress on adherence on standard operating procedures to the last point, he said.