INS Betwa: 2 dead after guided missile frigate tips over while undocking

Indian Naval warship, guided missile frigate, INS Betwa has suffered a major mishap, tipping over and hitting land while being undocked at the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai on Monday.

The incident occurred at the Cruiser Graving Dock when INS Betwa was undocking and the docks block mechanism is suspected to have failed.

Following a re-fit, the warship was gearing up to head out for the sea.

The Brahmaputra-class guided missile frigate is a 3850 tonner that can hit speed of over 56km/h and has a range of 8,300 km.

The job of a guided missile frigate is to escort larger ships and act as fleet defence platform. It is an effective in anti-aircraft warfare, where is features both offensive and defensive missiles.

This is not the first time that INS Betwa met with an accident. In 2014, the warship ran aground and collided with an object near the Mumbai naval base. This accident resulted in damage to critical equipment like the sonar system.

This had raised questions about the navy's safety record, prompting navy to remove the captain of the ship. The captain was charged with lack of adequate supervision and non-compliance with naval procedure.

Navy is assessing the extent of damage, according to the Navy PRO.

Currently, 14 sailors have been rescued with minor injuries and two sailors who were missing, were reportedly dead, ANI reported.