Naval officer dies firefighting on INS Vikramaditya in Karwar

Karwar: A Naval Officer died after a fire broke out onboard INS Vikramaditya while entering the harbor in Karwar on Friday.

The deceased is Lieutenant Commander DS Chauhan.

As per the statement issued by the Indian Navy, the officer lost consciousness due to the smoke and fumes during the firefighting efforts. He was immediately evacuated to the Naval Hospital at Karwar but could not be revived.

However, the fire was brought under control by the ship’s crew in a swift action preventing any serious damage affecting the ship’s combat capability, added the Navy.

A Board of Inquiry to investigate in to the circumstances of the incident has been ordered.

INS Vikramaditya is 284 metres long and 60 metres high — that’s about as high as a 20-storeyed building. The ship weighs 40,000 tonnes and is the biggest and heaviest ship in the Indian Navy.

The $2.3 billion aircraft carrier came to India from Russia in January 2014. INS Vikramaditya, which was commissioned into the Indian Navy in November 2013 at the Sevmash shipyard in north Russia’s Severodvinsk, is based at its home port at Karwar.