Vice Admiral Anil Chopra takes over as Western Naval Commander

MUMBAI: Vice Admiral Anil Chopra today took over as Commander-in-Chief of the Western Naval Command, nearly two months after Vice Admiral Shekar Sinha took voluntary retirement on being superseded by Admiral Robin Dhowan as Navy chief.

Vice Admiral Chopra is second senior-most officer in the Navy and only the second officer to head both the operational commands - Eastern and Western Naval Command.

"The safety of men and machinery is the utmost priority of the Navy," he said addressing officers after assuming charge and stressed the need to improve the condition of naval dockyards.

Of the 15 mishaps that have taken place onboard Naval vessels, 10 were reported at the Western Command.

The spate of mishaps include the loss of 18 lives of Navy personnel in an explosion on Russian-made Kilo-class submarine INS Sindhurakshak in August last year.

Chopra had taken over as the chief of the Indian Coast Guard just few days after the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

He had also commanded the Missile Corvette INS Kuthar, Destroyer INS Rajput and Aircraft Carrier INS Viraat.