Navy vessel sinks off Visakhapatnam

Visakhapatnam: A naval auxiliary vessel on Thursday evening sunk off the Visakhapatnam coast during a naval exercise leaving one sailor dead and four others missing. Twenty-three persons have been rescued so far. The vessel was on a routine mission to recover practice torpedoes fired by fleet ships during a routine exercise, when one of its compartments flooded. 

The vessel has reportedly sunk to a depth of around 370 metres. Sources say a crack may have developed in the hull, specifically a recess called the sea chest designed for water intake, which resulted in water gushing in and sinking the ship.

The Torpedo Recovery Vessel of TRV was on a routine mission to recover practice torpedoes fired by fleet ships during an exercise. The ship, 23 meters long and 6.5 meters at the beam, was built by Goa Shipyard Limited in 1983, a statement by the Navy said.

Ships with side scanning and ‘bottom profiling’ abilities, aircraft with night vision facilities and four helicopters are searching for survivors.