The diesel-electric Kilo-class submarine “Sindhurakshak”, which returned to India in January after repairs at the Zvezdochka shipyard in Severodvinsk, caught fire after an explosion while berthed at a base in Mumbai on Wednesday, Reuters reports.
Eighteen Indian sailors were trapped and some were killed in the accident. Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony said crew members inside the Russian-built submarine had died, but he gave no further details.
The explosion just after midnight was likely an accident, but an investigation was under way to establish the cause, the navy said. “There are some people who are trapped on board, we are in the process of trying to rescue them,” a navy spokesman told Reuters. “We will not give up until we get to them.”
“Sindhurakshak” is the fifth submarine the Zvezdochka shipyard has repaired for the Indian Navy since 1997. The submarine arrived in Severodvinsk in August 2010. Part of the refit involved installation of equipment for Club-S cruise missiles and over 10 Indian and foreign-made systems, including the Ushus hydro-acoustic (sonar) system and CSS-MK-2 radio communications system.
The submarine is one of India’s ten Sindhughosh-class diesel-electric submarines, an Indian variant of the Russian Kilo-class submarines.
Severodvinsk hosts a quite large Indian community. Besides the submarines being repaired at the Zvezdochka shipyard, the other giant shipyard in the town, Sevmash, has reconstructed the former Soviet aircraft carrier “Admiral Gorshkov”, after Russia in 2004 signed the agreement to sell and rebuild the vessel to the Indian navy. The vessel, which has been renamed “Vikramaditya”, is currently undergoing sea trials in the Barents Sea.
