A preliminary probe into the fire on-board the submarine INS Sindhuratna off Mumbai last week killing two officers has indicated that it was caused by problems in the cables and not the battery pit as feared earlier.
The Board of Inquiry (BoI) into the accident, which took place on February 26, found that the fire was caused in the third compartment housing sailors leading to dense smoke which most probably asphyxiated the two officers, officials said here on Monday. However, the cause of the fire was not yet ascertained, they said.
As for the apprehensions about the fire emanating from the battery pit located in the same compartment, they said the pit was found intact and without any damage. A metre-long section of cable was found burnt along with the paneling around it while the entire seven-metre high compartment was intact, officials said.
Explaining the sequence of events after the fire was detected, they said the two officers lt-Commander K Muwal and Manoranjan Kumar, both electrical officers, rushed into the affected compartment and started the process of detecting and dousing the fire in the cables.
Due to the compactness of the vessel, the oxygen in the entire submarine got sucked into the compartment leading to dense smoke and the two officers began the process of extinguishing the fire. It entails smothering the smoke through gas and cutting out the supply of oxygen.
Since the incident took place when the submarine was underwater, the officers also began the Standard Operating Procedures of isolating the compartment by manual sealing after pushing out the sailors who were inside it, they said.
The compartment was sealed to prevent smoke and fire from spreading to the other five compartments of the Kilo class submarine. Meanwhile, the Navy has initiated steps to improve safety procedures in the wake of nearly ten mishaps on board its warships in the last six to seven months. These measures include a framework comprising Safety Class Authorities (SCAs) who essentially are experts in their respective fields. These authorities undertake various safety related measures such as promulgation of analysis of accidents and policy guidelines on safety.
These officers of the rank of Rear Admiral will check every warship, plane, helicopter and submarine when it comes out after refit and goes for trials before being declared fit for operational deployment. Moreover, after the recent incidents onboard submarines including Sindhurakshak and Sindhuratna resulting in the death of 20 personnel, safety stand-downs, extensive checks on weapon-related safety systems and audit of Standard Operating Procedures on all operational submarines were ordered.
As an added step, Navy Headquarters directed conduct of safety ‘stand-down’ and a one-time safety audit prior operational deployment of any ship or submarine. This has since been institutionalised as a regular annual audit for all operational units. The procedures involve ‘Safety Audits’ of all operational units by nominated teams at the Command and Operational levels. Besides, water tight integrity and fire fighting preparedness of units under refit was ordered once a quarter.