Fire breaks out on INS Shivalik in Visakhapatnam

Indian Navy's stealth frigate INS Shivalik caught fire on Wednesday while undergoing a refit at the Eastern Naval Command headquarters in Visakhapatnam.

The fire that broke out in the frigate's engine store room was doused after nearly six hours.

"The fire was controlled in time. There was no damage to men or material. An inquiry into the incident has been ordered," a navy spokesperson said here.

Asked why it took six hours to put out the flames, he said the delay happened because of the smoke which made it difficult for the fire fighting team to identify the seat of fire.

The indigenous frigate was commissioned in April 2010. It was built under the Rs 8,100-crore Project-17 in which three stealth warships - INS Shivalik, INS Satpura and INS Sahaydri - were constructed at the Mazgaon dock in Mumbai.

The frontline warship participated in the Malabar 2017 naval exercise involving US and Japanese navies.