Mid-sea crash: Navy orders 'board of inquiry' to establish facts of case

The Indian Navy on Thursday instituted a 'Board of Inquiry' to probe the collision of a naval boat and a passenger ferry off the Mumbai coast a day earlier which killed 13 persons, including a naval sailor.  The Navy said Search and Rescue (SAR) efforts had continued through the night of December 18 - 19 in the vicinity of the accident. Two persons from the ferry are still reported to be missing and SAR operations to this end are in progress by eight Navy craft and a naval helicopter augmented by a Coast Guard vessel. 

  "A Board of Inquiry has been ordered into the accident to establish the facts of the case," the Navy said.  Navy chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi offered condolences to the grieving families of those who tragically lost their lives in the accident and wished for a speedy and full recovery of those who were injured.  A Navy craft undergoing engine trials lost control and collided with passenger ferry 'Neel Kamal' off Karanja near Mumbai. Of the 113 persons on board both vessels, 13 died and 98, including two injured, were rescued.  Two persons are missing. There were six persons on board the Navy craft, two of whom survived, officials have said. A probe into the incident is also being conducted by the Mumbai police after a case was registered against the Navy craft driver at Colaba police station.  The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections invoked in the FIR included those related to causing death by negligence, actions that endanger the personal safety or life of others, rash or negligent navigation of a vessel and acts of mischief that cause wrongful loss or damage to individuals or the public.