Indian Mariners Smashed New Russian-Built Frigate in Quay

26.11.2012 Under way from Kaliningrad for Baltiysk on frigate INS Tarkash newly built by Yantar shipyard, Indian naval mariners smashed the ship against a quay, eyewitnesses of the incident told Kaliningrad.Ru. Employees of Yantar confirmed that information assuring that the ship had not suffered serious damages.

"Heading for Baltiysk, Indians hit the hull against the mooring wall. However, that affected neither the ship's condition nor the cruise schedule", the press secretary of Yantar shipyard Sergei Mikhailov told Kaliningrad.Ru. As for him, the ship now is under way for Portland and then will set a course for Indian port Mumbai.

Recall that INS Tarkash is the second out of three ships built by Yantar shipyard (Kaliningrad, Russia) for Indian Navy. The first frigate, INS Teg was handed over to the client on Apr 27, 2012. The third one, INS Trikand is currently undergoing dockside trials and to be delivered in the summer 2013.

It is noteworthy that construction of the frigate started in 2006 under project of Severnoye Design Bureau. Three analogous Talwar-class frigates were built by Baltiysky Zavod shipyard (St. Petersburg) and joined Indian Navy in 2003-2004.

Project 11356 frigates are designed for searching and destruction of submarines, antiship and antisubmarine warfare, as well as air defenses. Displacement is 4,000 tons; crew is 220 men; operation range is 5,000 nautical miles. The ships are armed with the BrahMos antiship cruise missiles jointly developed by Russia and India.