Nearly two years after INS Brahmaputra toppled onto its side during repairs at Mumbai’s Naval Dockyard, the Navy has put two officers before a court-martial. One sailor died that day. The frigate, a guided-missile warship, sustained severe damage.
The incident took place on July 21, 2024, when a fire broke out aboard INS Brahmaputra while the ship was being repaired at the Mumbai Naval Dockyard.
The frigate lost stability, listed heavily to port, and finally came to rest on its side. The officials facing formal charges are the ship’s commanding officer, a captain, and the officer of the day, a lieutenant commander. Both face charges of negligence in carrying out their duties. The captain also faces a charge of hazarding a naval vessel, which in naval terms means putting a ship in danger. The military court will decide the charges. If found guilty, the officers could face anything from a reprimand and loss of seniority to up to two years in prison. Firefighters poured large quantities of water into the vessel to fight the blaze. Most of the crew escaped through the gangway, but some had to jump into the water and swim to safety. Leading seaman Sitendra Singh went missing during the evacuation. He was later found dead. The accident highlighted the dangers of firefighting on a large warship where water trapped inside can upset the ship’s balance. It also called into question the supervision of the repair work and what safety arrangements were put in place. The court-martial is expected to examine how far the two officers were responsible for what led to the accident. At first, the damage was so severe that it wasn’t clear the ship would sail again. The Navy ran a lengthy operation to bring the frigate upright, which took several months. Repair and restoration work carried on after that. The ship is now going through trials. Officials say it hasn’t been formally returned to operational service yet and should be seaworthy sometime next year. GRSE at Kolkata built it. The accident set off a wider review of safety and security across the Indian Navy. Then Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi set up a special task force, led by a rear admiral, to look at vulnerabilities involving naval vessels and suggest ways to prevent accidents. Its brief went well beyond the Brahmaputra. It covered safety practices, security arrangements and standard operating procedures across commands, establishments and units. The task force handed in its recommendations. They went out across the Navy and were put into effect. The goal was to tighten safeguards and sharpen procedures for any work done on ships, repairs and maintenance included. It also comes as the Navy works to tighten safety procedures after two serious capsizings at the same dockyard.
The warship is a complex structure of machinery/equipment and compartments and therefore requires careful examination and review of all information and records. The proceedings began in Mumbai on October 12. The case puts the July 2024 accident back in focus, especially how a fire on a warship under repair ended in a massive salvage effort. The incident took place on July 21, 2024, when a fire broke out aboard INS Brahmaputra while the ship was being repaired at the Mumbai Naval Dockyard. INS Brahmaputra, the lead ship of India’s own class of guided-missile frigates, entered the fleet in April 2000. She is 3,850 tonnes, 125 metres from bow to stern and 16 metres across the beam, and she carries a crew of about 370,40 of them officers. The ongoing court-martial will now test whether individual lapses contributed to the 2024 accident.
A Navy spokesperson said, “Establishing the cause, fixing responsibility, and putting safeguards in place are essential to prevent recurrence. The Navy hasn’t said publicly what specific actions or failures the charges rest on.
