Navy’s Russian-built stealth frigate INS Talwar collided with a fishing trawler in the Arabian Sea off Ratnagiri in Maharashtra on Monday night, causing the trawler to sink.
All the 27 fishermen on board the trawler were rescued out of the waters by the warship crew and brought to the shore on Tuesday morning, Navy officers said here.
No damage was reported on the warship.
This is the second major mishap this year, after the August 14 explosions on board INS Sindhurakshak submarine at the Mumbai naval dockyard.
Navy officers said that the fishermen were asleep after putting out all lights on board the fishing boat. The trawler was not visible due to the darkness and Talwar collided with it resulting the boat to sink.
The fishermen, who were jolted, jumped out of the sinking boat on time and were pulled out of the water by INS Talwar’s crew and later safely returned to the shore. “The incident took place around 9.30 pm in the high seas. The fishing boat was unlit and hence was not visible. Talwar sailed onto the fishing boat, resulting in it capsizing,” a Navy officer said.
“The fishing boat was just drifting, as the fishermen were all asleep after hard labour out in the sea. It is like parking your car without the blinkers switched on in the middle of an highway that has no streetlights,” he explained.
However, soon after the collision, Talwar was stopped and the crew got into the rescue act. They pulled out the 27 fishermen out of the waters and got them to the shore.
The warship suffered no damage and hence was immediately back to its patrol duties at sea after the fishermen were rescued.
INS Talwar is the lead ship of the six-warship flotilla of frigates built by Russia. The Krivak-III class ships were commissioned into the Indian Navy in 2003, starting with INS Talwar.
The 4,000-tonne warship has had a major role to play in the anti-piracy operations carried out by India in the Gulf of Aden and in the Indian Ocean region since 2007.