Navy chief holds meet on craft-ferry crash during Western Naval Command HQ visit

Two days after an Indian Navy speedboat collided with a ferry packed with passengers off the Mumbai coast, Navy chief Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi on Friday visited the Western Naval Command headquarters and held a meeting with top officials over the crash.

Admiral Tripathi also conducted an aerial inspection of the place where the incident occurred on late Wednesday afternoon, an official said. Fourteen people, including a sailor, died when the Navy speedboat rammed into the ferry which was sailing to the Elephanta Island, a popular tourist attraction which has a collection of ancient caves, from the Gateway of India.

The ferry, 'Neel Kamal', was carrying more than 100 passengers and capsized due to the impact of the crash. The Navy on Thursday instituted a 'Board of Inquiry' to probe the collision. In July, Tripathi had also visited Mumbai after a fire on warship INS Brahmaputra.