Dismayed to hear about the commanding officer of the Indian Navy’s frontline frigate INS Talwar, Captain Gopal Suri being relieved of his position last week pending the outcome of an inquiry into an accident at sea. The action against him was expected following a disaster in the darkness on December 23 where the Talwar rammed a fishing boat, sending the 27 fishermen on board flying into the sea (the Talwar subsequently rescued all). But this isn’t the first time a skipper has been relived of command.
Commissioned in 2003, Talwar, the first of six modified Krivak III class frigates from Russia, has had a conspicuously unlucky run. In 2012, then commanding officer Captain Rahul Parmar was relieved of command following the death of a sub-lieutenant during a swimming drill — Parmar was subsequently found guilty by a court martial.
Eight years earlier, on December 27, 2005, the Talwar’s sister ship INS Trishul collided with a merchant vessel MV Ambuja Laxmi outside Mumbai harbour, an accident that saw its commanding officer Captain Sunil Edwin David being stripped of command as well.
It’s been a rough few months for the Indian Navy following the tragic accident on board submarine INS Sindhurakshak. The navy has invited a few of us for a briefing on Tuesday, where more details will perhaps be available on the nature of the incidents being reported on, safety stand-downs and follow-up action. More details soon.
Just read the report on INS Talwar's Co being relived and can confirm the old earlier Talwar Type 12 frigate was a lucky Chief and produced many Admirals and a CNS Adm Mahdvendra Singh. Ships do have luck in their strain.
Interesting to learn the Navy has asked media and you Shiv to help them out. You must.
Instead of dismissing experienced senior officers the navy must double check its safety procedures..one or two such events could have been due to negligence but repititive occurence of such accidents show a serious flaw in the inherent safety procedures of the navy…i feel its high time for a scrutiny
The Navy seems to be encountering multiple safety issues in the last few years. A comprehensive review of Operating Procedures and it's implementation at the ground level is required.
Transitioning from a brown to blue water navy seems to be showing these gaps where sailors and leadership is playing catch-up.
Oh man!!! I should have joined the navy when i cleared the 33 SSB in Bhopal…they're rammin' ships, blowin' up subs an having sex scandals…damn i missed it.
WEll Shiv , you are now accused of
yellow journalism and superstitious oversimplifications
Shiv,
My gut tells me that NS Sindhurakshak sank because of sabotage…initiated by Pak…
Similarly the spate of naval mishaps incidents in the last few months may also have a paki hand. We should not rule it out.
In your interactions with the navy brass pls. ask these tough questions…public has the right to know if pak did our kilo in. That would be an act of war…
thxs
lets not spread superstition.
Better training. Professionalism. Pride.
Better training. Professionalism. Pride.
just move out bombay too crowded by merchant ships
India doesn't deserve to be handle these high tech systems…first go salvage your sunken sub
looks like all comments are from desks who do not sail…..folks to be at sea is a calling and let us not forget the challanges that come with this call…..
Yeah right – this ship is jinxed ! Did you know that writing about jinxed ships has jinxed the careers of many defence journos too.
Use you brain and raise the right questions that need to be asked rather than trying to pin the reason for the unfortunate incidents to superstitious bull crap !
-Seth
Shiv, your dubious fellow blogger Prasun 'Chor' Sengupta has blogged against you, saying you have oversimplified. He calls INdian journos 'desi' as if that's some sort of abuse. Anyway, just wanted to share the joke of how that idiot consistently derides the work of others while using it as a vehicle to pimp hardware for those who fund his highly iffy journalistic practices. all strength to you, shiv. just wanted to inform you, in case you are too busy to see.
– sridhar
@Shiv,
i was just curious as to whether Capt. Parmar was actually found guilty during the GCM? can you look into that once.
@ To those who think its because of lack of trained professionals,
such incidents happen in almost every navy around the world. navigational error cannot be ruled out but you must also remember that the area around Mumbai harbour is very crowded.