A fire onboard Indian Navy’s INS Brahmputra has severely damaged the ship.

The INS Brahmputra has been damaged by the fire such that it has tilted so much that it is nearly resting on one side. While the fire has been doused, crews have not been able to make the ship upright so far.

Since the outbreak of the fire, one sailor has gone missing and search to locate him is ongoing, according to Indian Navy.

“All personnel have been accounted for except one junior sailor, for whom the search is in progress. An inquiry has been ordered by the Indian Navy to investigate the accident,” said the Indian Navy.

Visuals from the site show that INS Brahmputra has almost sunk into the water and is barely afloat.

The INS Brahmputra is a guided missile frigate that was commissoned in the Indian Navy in 2000. It has medium range, close range, and anti-aircraft guns, surface to surface and surface to air missiles, and torpedo launchers. It performs tasks such as coastal and offshore patrolling, monitoring of Sea Lines of Communication (SLOS), maritime diplomacy, counter terrorism, and anti-piracy operations.

Fire broke out on INS Brahmputra during repairs

The fire occurred when INS Brahmputra was undergoing repairs at Mumbai Naval Dockyard, according to a statement from the Indian Navy.

The fire broke out on Sunday and was brought under control by the ship’s crew with assistance of firefighters from Naval Dockyard, Mumbai and other ships in harbour by Monday morning, according to the Navy’s statement to CNN-News 18.

Then, the ship began to tilt to one side on Monday afternoon and is “presently resting on one side”, said the Navy.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s office said that Navy chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi has briefed him on the incident.

Despite efforts from the crews, the ship has so far not been restored to upright position, as per the statement.

Water inside ship has tilted ship, says report

Even as efforts to restore the ship to its original upright position continue, a report said that the ship tilted because of water.

Following the fire, water pumped into the vessel led to the ship tilting to one side, said defence sources to The Print.

The sources further said that the extent of damage can only be learnt once the ship has been salvaged.

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Indian Navy ship INS Brahmputra almost keels over after fire, 1 sailor remains missing