Court-martial proceedings against two naval officers in INS Brahmaputra accident

The Indian Navy has initiated court-martial proceedings against two officers in connection with the incident in 2024 where the guided-missile frigate INS Brahmaputra partially capsized at the Mumbai Naval Dockyard. The proceedings commenced in Mumbai on 12 October. The two naval officers have been charged with demonstrating serious negligence in the discharge of their duties.

According to a report by The Hindu, the Commanding Officer of the ship, holding the rank of Captain, and the Officer of the Day, a Lieutenant Commander, have been named as the accused. The Captain faces charges of hazarding a naval vessel and negligence in duty, while the Lieutenant Commander has been charged solely with negligence. If both officers are found guilty, they could face penalties ranging from a reprimand to loss of seniority or imprisonment for a maximum of 2 years.

The entire incident occurred on 21 July, 2024. At that time, INS Brahmaputra was undergoing repairs at the Mumbai Naval Dockyard when a fire suddenly broke out on the vessel. To extinguish the fire, firefighters pumped a large amount of water into the ship. According to a report by NDTV, the accumulation of water inside the ship caused it to lose balance, resulting in the frigate tilting towards the port side and eventually capsizing completely to one side.

During this horrific accident, most of the crew members on board managed to escape via the gangway, but some sailors had to jump into the water to save themselves and swim to the shore. During this evacuation process, Leading Seaman Sitendra Singh went missing and was later found dead. Thus, one naval sailor lost his life in this accident.

This incident has raised serious questions regarding safety arrangements and supervision during repairs in the Navy. Specifically, a dangerous situation arises when the balance of a large warship is disturbed due to water ingress while extinguishing fires, as was observed here. A Navy spokesperson stated, "It is imperative to determine the cause of the incident, establish responsibility, and take safety measures to ensure such incidents do not recur in the future."

INS Brahmaputra is a structure comprising complex machinery, equipment, and various compartments, making the investigation and review of its records extremely necessary. Initially, the damage to the ship was so severe that there was uncertainty regarding whether it would be able to return to the sea. However, after months of strenuous effort and salvage operations, the ship was righted. According to The Hindu, this 3,850-ton frigate is now undergoing trials following repairs and is expected to be seaworthy by next year.

Following the accident, the then Navy Chief, Admiral Dinesh K. Tripathi, had constituted a Special Task Force led by a Rear Admiral. The objective of this task force was to investigate broader security and safety issues associated with naval vessels. The recommendations, security protocols, and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) provided by this task force have now been implemented across all naval commands and institutions.

This incident has brought back memories of an old accident from 2016. In December 2016, another Brahmaputra-class frigate, INS Betwa, also capsized in a similar manner during repairs at the Mumbai Dockyard. In that accident, two naval sailors died and 14 people were injured. In that case as well, three officers faced court-martial and were sentenced to a loss of seniority for 4 to 6 months.

The Navy has not yet publicly clarified the specific steps or failures upon which these charges are based. The upcoming court-martial proceedings will examine how responsible both officers were for this accident and which errors on their part led to this damage.