NEW DELHI — India’s defense minister says a massive explosion aboard a diesel-powered submarine, moored at a dockyard in Mumbai, has killed some of the 18 sailors on board. The apparent accident comes as the navy has been modernizing its fleet and recently celebrated the launch of an indigenously built aircraft carrier.

Navy divers attempted to rescue the sailors trapped on board after the huge explosion early Wednesday at a naval dockyard in Mumbai. Officials said the divers could not approach the half submerged vessel for several hours because it was too hot.

Some sailors reportedly managed to jump to safety following the explosion, but an unknown number were believed to have been trapped inside.

When rescue operations failed to bring any news for hours, Defense Minister A.K. Antony indicated that there have been casualties. He called it a tragedy.

“I feel sad also about those navy personnel who lost their lives in the service of the country,” said Antony.

Eyewitnesses in Mumbai described an enormous ball of fire which lit the sky in the dockyard area. More than a dozen fire engines fought the blaze.

The diesel-powered Russian-built submarine, INS Sindhurakshak, was one of India’s most advanced submarines equipped with modern electronic warfare systems. It was inducted into the navy earlier this year after undergoing a two and a half year, $80 million upgrade in Russia.

It had suffered an accident before it went for a retrofit – in 2010 one sailor was killed on board the vessel, apparently due to a hydrogen leak.

Defense analysts said the INS Sindhurakshak was fitted with torpedoes and missiles. They said chances of salvaging the submarine appeared remote. Most dismissed the possibility of sabotage.

Rahul Bedi at Jane’s Defense Weekly in New Delhi said the submarine’s loss comes at a time when the navy’s submarine fleet is “much depreciated and depreciating.”

“It operates 14 submarines of which about 12 are operational, eight of them are Russian, four of them are German and some of these are also up for retirement over the next year or so. So losing one submarine, which had been recently refitted and retrofitted, is a major loss to the navy,” he said.

The incident comes just days after the Indian navy was celebrating major achievements in its defense preparedness. On Monday, an indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier was launched, marking a big leap in the country’s technological ability to meet its defense needs. Prior to that, a reactor on the navy’s first indigenous nuclear submarine became operational.

India wants to build a strong navy to counter China in the Indian Ocean region.

Source: VOA News