Water Ingress on INS Kesari at Visakhapatnam Dockyard, Navy Confirms No Casualties

Incident Overview

The Indian Navy announced on Saturday that water entered the hull of INS Kesari, a Shardul‑class tank landing ship, while the vessel was moored at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam. The statement said that the flooding was detected early and that pumping operations are currently underway. No personnel injuries have been reported.

Confirmed Details

• The incident involved INS Kesari, commissioned on 5 April 2008 and displacing 5,650 tonnes.
• The ship was berthed at the Visakhapatnam Naval Dockyard at the time of the event.
• The Navy’s official release confirmed that “no casualties have been reported.”
• Efforts to remove the water are ongoing, according to the statement.

Reported Context

• INS Kesari was deployed in May 2020 for Mission Sagar, during which it delivered Covid‑19 relief supplies, medical aid and food to several Indian Ocean nations, including the Maldives, Mauritius, Madagascar, Comoros and Seychelles.
• The vessel’s recent activities have included humanitarian missions, but the current incident occurred while the ship was stationary and not on active deployment.

Practical Implications

• The ship may require a damage assessment and possible repairs before returning to operational service.
• Crew members will need to be debriefed and health checks conducted, although no injuries were reported.
• The incident could prompt a review of berthing safety protocols at the Visakhapatnam dockyard.
• Other naval assets may be reassigned temporarily to maintain readiness while INS Kesari is out of service.

Verification Steps

• The Navy’s press release can be accessed on the Times of India website (URL provided) and should be cross‑checked with any official statements released on the Indian Navy’s own channels.
• Independent maritime news outlets may provide updates on the ship’s status; their reports should be compared with the Navy’s account.
• Photographic or video evidence released by the Navy, if any, should be examined for authenticity and timestamped metadata.

Unknowns

• The exact cause of the water ingress has not been disclosed; possible reasons such as hull breach, equipment failure or external flooding are not confirmed.
• The timeline for completing the pumping operation and restoring the vessel to full capability remains unspecified.
• No information has been provided about whether the incident affected scheduled missions or deployments beyond the immediate period.