Indian Navy Extends Submarine Rescue Support in IOR

Panaji: In a rare tour of the capabilities of the Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel (DSRV), the Indian Navy on Tuesday offered delegates from foreign navies a potential opportunity to formalise a pact for submarine rescue support.

Heads of maritime forces from 12 Indian Ocean nations, including Bangladesh, Comoros, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand were given a chance to witness the capabilities of the DSRV and the destroyer INS Kochi at Mormugao Port Trust.

“The Indian Navy has already proven the capability to carry out a rescue operation using the DSRV for submarines operated by the Navy. The purpose of this visit by the foreign delegation is to show the other submarine operating nations who do not have the rescue system,” said Captain Koushik Hota, officer-in-charge of the submarine rescue unit (West).

Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore and Malaysia are among the few friendly nations that operate submarines in the Indian Ocean Region. The Indian Navy is one of the few countries around the world to operate two DSRVs that are capable of rescuing crew from disabled submarines that are at a depth of up to 651m.

“There are some nations that have their own rescue system but they would like to collaborate for a submarine rescue exercise or in an actual eventuality. The purpose is to introduce them to our system and should any of them be interested, we can have further implementing agreements with details of how we will cooperate in case of an actual incident or for an exercise,” Hota told reporters.

In April, the Indonesian submarine KRI Nanggala 402 sank off the coast of Bali, killing all the 53 crew on board. India mobilised the DSRV to assist in the search but the mission was called off after the disabled submarine was found, broken into at least three parts, at the bottom of the Bali Sea.

The DSRV system consists of a Submarine Rescue Vessel, a Remote Operations Vehicle, Side Scan Sonar and associated equipment. The system can be rapidly mobilised by air or road to facilitate submarine rescue operations even at distant locations.

There are about 40 nations that operate submarines around the world but only a few have any form of submarine rescue capability. In January this year, India and Singapore inked an agreement on submarine rescue support.