Chances of survival grim for missing Navy personnel

Navy Chief Admiral R K Dhowan on Monday said that the chances of survival of four Navy personnel, who went missing since the sinking of the naval vessel, are grim.

“It appears little grim,” Dhowan said when asked about the chances of their survival.
 The Navy, however, is not officially declaring them dead as yet as the search operation would continue till Thursday.

Dhowan visited Visakhapatnam on Sunday to review the progress of the search and rescue operation. He visited the bereaved family of Petty Officer James Jacob who died in the accident and also the family of an officer who is reported missing.

Soon after assuming the charge, new Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said he was “equally worried” over the sinking of the torpedo recovery vessel off Visakhapatnam. He also recalled the series of accidents that the Navy has had over the last year and a half, starting with the explosion on-board submarine INS Sindhurakshak that resulted in its sinking killing everybody on board.

The Navy chief said the sinking of TRV A-72 is a cause of serious concern, which is being investigated thoroughly. “Since the life of a ship is about 25-30 years, at any point of time almost 50 per cent of naval ships are 20 years old. But the Navy takes pride in maintaining these platform. TRV A-72 underwent three major refits including one last year and a short refit this year,” Dhowan said.

Veterans, however, pointed out that availability of adequate budget for the maintenance work is always a problem.