Ill-fated warship INS Vindhyagiri decommissioned

INS Vindhyagiri (F-42), the sixth and the last of the Nilgiri class of frigates which was damaged in an accident last year, has been decommissioned.

The warship, which derives its name from the Vindhyagiri hills, was built by Mazagon Docks Ltd and served the Navy for 31 years.

It served as the flagship of the Western Fleet and later its role shifted to maritime surveillance, coastal patrol and anti piracy operations. The ship was decommissioned on June 10, a year earlier than scheduled, after being hit by a merchant vessel while entering harbour last year, an official release said in Mumbai on Tuesday.

The ship was salvaged but the damage sustained on account of the fire and flooding was assessed to be such as to render it beyond economical repair, it said. Rear Admiral Abhay Karve, Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet, presided over the decommissioning ceremony.

The ship, commissioned on July 8, 1981, spent a year- and-a-half inside the Naval Dockyard following the accident last year. On May 8, the Bombay High Court had permitted the Navy to destroy the ship after an application was filed seeking permission on the grounds that ammunition was still inside the ship.

On January 30, 2011, the warship had collided with MV Nordlake near Sunk Rock lighthouse. The same evening a major fire broke out and it took over 15 hours to control it.

On January 31, it sank due to water filling its chambers. After the collision, senior Naval officers were deliberating on refitting the ship, but the cost of the repairs made the job inviable.