Visakhapatnam: The Indian Navy furthered its search and rescue operations into the deep sea based on the prevailing drift and sea current.
The operations have been extended up to 75 to 80 Nautical Miles, South-West of Vizag Coast, to locate the sunken Naval Torpedo Recovery Vessel (TRV) A-72 and to trace the missing four Naval Personnel, who were reportedly missing following a mishap on Thursday.
The TRV sunk while on a routine mission to recover dumpy torpedoes fired by the fleet’s ships during routine exercise.
It is more than 48-hours since the massive operations began with the help of nine warships, of Eastern fleet, and a few aircrafts, including, SKG 42C, Dorniers, Boeing P81, with night vision capabilities, Chetak helicopters and also a few expert Navy divers.
However, there’s been no breakthrough yet, as the four naval personnel, including weapon officer, of Eastern Naval Command’s (ENC), Naval Armament Inspection (NAI) Office, two divers and a sailor are still missing.
The Navy said there were 29 personnel on board the vessel. One Sailor, James Jacob (32, died in the accident and four personnel (one officer and three sailors) are still reported missing. The remaining 24 personnel have been safely brought ashore.
DCP (Law and Order, South Zone), Dr G. Ramgopal Naik said the list of four missing persons and those rescued from the sinking of Torpedo Recovery Vessel incident has not been provided yet by the Navy officers.
Sources in Navy said that in view of the mishap, Navy Chief RK Dhowan is likely to reach Vizag on Sunday morning and inspect the SAR operations and will also hold a meeting with naval officers of ENC.A board of inquiry, headed by a captain, is in progress to investigate into the circumstances leading to the mishap.
