A major fire broke out on an under-construction naval warship at Mazagon Dock on Friday evening, causing the death of a worker. Two others were injured. Twenty-three-year-old contract worker Brajendra Kumar passed away, possibly due to asphyxia and burn injuries. The blaze broke out at around 5.30 pm and spread on to another deck of Yard 12704, which will be christened as Indian Naval Ship (INS) Visakhapatnam when commissioned. This stealth destroyer is the first of its class of destroyer of Project 15B and will have a displacement of 7,300 tonnes WARSHIP ON FIRE The blaze broke out at Yard 12704, which will be christened INS Visakhapatnam when commissioned. This stealth destroyer is the first of its class of destroyers of Project 15B and will have a displacement of 7,300 tonnes Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders tried to downplay the incident, calling it "a minor fire incident" and in an official statement, the spokesperson said that the fire took place "during grinding operations in the tank." "Welding and grinding work was going on when the incident occurred," said an eye-witness. "Most of the labourers had left the spot, but a few of them were still around, working. As the blaze grew, all the workers began running towards land." A spark from grinding work is suspected to have caused the fire. The fire was confined to the second and the third deck of the ship, and the Mumbai Fire Bridge rushed 15 vehicles, including eight fire engines, to the spot. It took firefighters over three hours to bring the fire under control. Fire-fighting operations started at 6.05 pm, and the fire department declared it a Level 3 grade blaze on the scale of 1 to 5. Immediately, an enquiry panel has been constituted to ascertain the cause of the fire. A total of four destroyers have been ordered under Project 15B, whose total estimated cost is Rs 29,340 crore. The ship was launched on April 19 and expected to be commissioned in 2021. When ready, it will have eight BrahMos supersonic anti-ship missiles, Barak 8 missile, Multi-Function Surveillance Threat Alert Radar (MF-STAR), Total Atmosphere Control System, AK-630 Close-In Weapon System, twin tube torpedo launchers, rocket launchers, among other weaponry.

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