Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam   

Landing craft creates flutter

-Photo: K.R. Deepak

Breathtaking: A landing craft of the Eastern Naval Command performing an exercise close to Ramakrishna Beach on Tuesday in Visakhapatnam.

VISAKHAPATNAM: For morning walkers and others who strolled on to the Ramakrishna Beach on Tuesday morning, the appearance of two landing craft of the Eastern Naval Command with a large number of Navy men moving around with precision presented a surprise.

The rough condition of the sea owing to a depression in the Bay gave an impression that something had gone amiss and a rescue operation was on.

The ‘news’ that soon found its way to the TV channels was that ‘two ships ran aground.’ With the action quite riveting, a large number of people gathered making up a heavy crowd.

Those going by cars also stopped as curiosity levels rose. All the while other Navy men deployed at the beach, controlled the surging crowd.

For nearly four hours since morning the two landing craft that descended from INS Jalashwa anchored in the harbour captured the attention of everyone.

INS Jalashwa, an amphibious transport ship, was inducted into the Eastern fleet in September, 2007, after its acquisition from the USA. It hit the headlines when five Indian Navy personnel died after inhaling poisonous gas during an exercise off Visakhapatnam in February, 2008.

One of the crafts carried a truck and the other Navy men, numbering more than 50. The action heightened when one of the craft got stuck while heading into the sea after the exercise.

The Navy men put their shoulders together and with the help of a rope changed the direction of the craft pushing it into the sea.

Navy sources, however, described the exercise as routine. The Eastern Naval Command displays its operational exercises at Kolkata, Haldia, Puducherry also. The Navy Week culminates in the Navy Day celebration on December 4 at Visakhapatnam.

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