INS Betwa Frigate Mishap Caused By Miscalculation Of Balance: Minister Parrikar

The accident of Indian Navy’s guided missile frigate INS Betwaa, which tipped over and hit the ground while being undocked, is likely to have caused due to a miscalculation of balance, Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar said Wednesday.

The incident took place at south Mumbai’s naval dockyard on Monday at 1:50 pm. This accident has been described by the officials as ‘first of its kind’ in India, The Indian Express reported Wednesday.

Earlier, the Navy spokesperson had said that the accident may be a failure of the block mechanism that is used to dock and undock ships. An inquiry was ordered by Navy immediately after the accident.

INS Betwa is one of the three Brahmaputra class 3,800-tonne guided missile frigates in service with the Navy, and was commissioned in 2004. It had gone for a medium-refit to the Mumbai dockyard in October and was to set out to sea later.