Commissioning of INS Kalvari delayed

The commissioning of Scorpene-class submarine, INS Kalvari, the first of the six that are to be commissioned by the Navy, has been put off to December 2016, sources said. Sources from Mazagaon Dock Limited (MDL) where she was constructed said that the watercraft is still going through sea trials. Earlier, it was announced that INS Kalvari would be inducted by September 2016. It was was set afloat on October 29, 2015.

After the data leak of the Scorpene class submarine came to light in August, it had been suspected that the INS Kalvari would go through a few installation and un-installation processes. However, sources from defence and the engineering department of MDL informed that the sea trials of the giant submarine are still on and the data leak never affected the sea trials or commissioning process of INS Kalvari. They said it has already been said that the huge submarine would get commissioned by the end of the year 2016.

According to sources, the submarine has gone through two major sea trials by now.

The sources told this newspaper that sea trials go step by step and sometimes, owing to weather or staff availability, the process takes time. “Till what extent the watercraft went into the water, how much force of water she easily accepted and what kind of problems naval officials faced on it, are a subject of check during the sea trials, and sometimes we check it again and again to make it foolproof,” said an engineering department official from MDL.

The official further explained that even a small mistake could not be accepted, as it’s a question of national security. So, the officers are taking enough time to get the submarine ready.