The Indian Navy’s reported plans of acquiring a nuclear-powered Akula-II class submarine on lease from Russia in August next year may have received a jolt with reports that 20 Russians died aboard the same Akula-II class submarine, the Nerpa, on Sunday following a freon gas-leak accident during sea trials in the Pacific Ocean.
The 20 dead included four sailors while 21 others were injured. There were reportedly 208 people — 81 of them servicemen — on board the vessel at the time of accident. Among those killed were Russian shipyard workers and naval personnel. This incident is seen as a close shave for a team of Indian Navy personnel who were to reportedly leave for Russia in a few days for training on this very submarine. It is unclear now whether the visit will take place on schedule following the accident.
Meanwhile, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered a highlevel probe into the major accident, the worst since the 2000 Kursk mishap. “The accident took place last night when the automatic fire-extinguishing system was activated acci dentally, filling the two compartments with a highly toxic gas that killed those inside,” NTV reported quoting a Russian Navy spokesman, Capt. Igor Dygalo, according to agency reports from Moscow. According to Capt. Dygalo, there was no radiation leak on the submarine K-152 Nerpa and that its reactor was working in normal mode. It is this revelation that may bring some comfort to the Indian Navy.
Capt. Dygalo told Reuters later that at about 10.30 am Moscow time (7.30 am GMT) the submarine had returned to the naval base of Bolshoi Kamen in the Pacific. “It returned under its own steam, under escort by the Sayany, a rescue vessel. It is being moored at the anchorage,” Dygalo said. He said a Russian destroyer had brought the injured to Vladivostok.
Agency reports cited Capt. Dygalo as saying the vessel has not been damaged. Further tests to be conducted on it have since been cancelled on the order of the Navy commander-inchief. Reports also cited NTV channel as stating that the same nuclear submarine was to be commissioned later this year and an Indian crew was expected to arrive to take the charge of the vessel. The submarine was to be reportedly leased to India for 10 years.
The Indian Navy has refused to comment on the incident, saying that this pertained to a foreign country’s Navy. While the subject of India reportedly acquiring two nuclearcapable Akula-class submarines from Russia is shrouded in secrecy with stony silence from the Indian establishment, there have been reports that India is paying hundreds of crores for the acquisition of two Russian submarines on lease.
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