The Indian Navy has completed a complex operation to recover an unexploded missile warhead from a Marshall Islands-flagged crude oil tanker off the Kerala coast, the defence ministry said on Thursday.
The MT Olympic Life, which did not have any Indian nationals on board, was sailing from Fujairah in the UAE to Kochi. It had reported an explosion in its hull while off the coast of Oman on May 26, the ministry said.
The vessel reported the presence of an unexploded ordnance as it continued its transit towards Kochi, a Navy spokesperson said.
On receipt of information through the Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR), the Indian Navy initiated a coordinated response.
Kochi-based Southern Naval Command deployed a specialist Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team for a detailed assessment. The team confirmed that a projectile had penetrated the vessel’s hull, traversed multiple structural compartments and was lodged inside a fuel tank, the ministry said in a statement.
In view of the risks associated with the presence of an unexploded missile warhead inside a fuel storage compartment, the EOD team adopted a deliberate and phased approach to ensure the safety of the ship, its crew and surrounding port infrastructure.
“After completion of prescribed safety procedures, the EOD team employed advanced diagnostic methods to identify and isolate the detonation mechanism before carrying out the safe extraction of the warhead along with the associated debris," it said.
The recovered ordnance has been transported to a “secure facility for safe stowage and detailed examination", the Navy said.
This meticulously planned and executed high-risk operation, conducted over an extended duration, underscores the Indian Navy’s proficiency in explosive ordnance disposal, technical expertise and effective inter-agency coordination in addressing complex maritime contingencies, the ministry said.
The Indian Navy’s prompt response to an emergency at sea, irrespective of the nationality of the crew or the ownership of MT Olympic Life, reaffirms its role as a responsible maritime force dedicated to global maritime safety and a trusted and preferred security partner in the region, it added.
