VISAKHAPATNAM: INS Konkan – a mine sweeper under the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) – caught fire at the Naval Dockyard here on Wednesday.
The Pondicherry class M-72 ship was undergoing repairs at the time of the fire. No casualties have been reported. The cabin of the vessel is learnt to have been totally gutted.
Along with Navy fire tenders four other local fire engines rushed to the spot to help douse the fire which took over an hour to put out, sources said.
Some sources said that the fire broke out in the engine room due to a short circuit while others said it was sparked off by welding works that were going on at the site.
According to an official version of the ENC, the fire occurred at around 5 pm and there was no major loss to life and property with the fire being doused in an hour.
Initially there were rumors that a major blast in the Naval dockyard but Navy officials dismissed these saying that it was just a fire that had broken out at INS Konkan when welding and other repair procedures were being carried out on the ship that was at the dock for refit.