For someone who’s been terrified of the sea most of her life, I’ve become wierdly interested in naval stories of late.
Ok so my dad was a Navy Officer a long time ago - for just about long enough to get a couple of handsome snaps of himself in dress whites but not much more as far as I can make out. And yes, I have a pretty good pipeline to news of naval happenings these days and so have been finding myself embroiled in more conversations about frigates and destroyers than I would have thought.
Actually, the fact is that I’m learning an awful lot of really interesting stuff. I’ve always been fascinated with the kind of behind-the-scenes goss that you don’t generally find in the papers. Who wouldn’t be?I’ve learned for example, that while the Dutch were stationed in Afghanistan (they had a base for years in Uruzgan province), they included a large contingent of Navy divers? Did you do a double take on that? I surely did. What are navy divers doing in a landlocked country? Well, it turns out that Navy divers are trained bomb disposal experts - and of course there is no shortage of bombs in need of disposal in Afghanistan.
And then there’s the strange case of the Vindhyagiri. In January, the naval frigate collided with the Cyrprus flag carrier container ship, the MV Nordlake, just off the coast of Mumbai - a short stroll away from where I lived as a child. It’s beginning to look like ship collisions are an Indian speciality (I wonder if ship pilots and truck drivers go to the same driving skills schools in India), but I’m curious as to why the navy frigate sank.
It was badly damaged by the collision and there was a fire smouldering away in her bowels, but they only called for the fire brigade hours later. And, it’s not that easy to sink a frigate - warships are built for hard knocks after all, and manned by a crew trained in emergency procedures. Everyone on board and the important weapons were evacuated but what was going on there that caused her to sink?
The headlines have been bemoaing the biggest peace time loss the Indian Navy has suffered. But I have it on the best authority that the Indian navy is awash in cash these days. At a time when severe cutbacks are threatening the lifeblood of European navies, an Indian admiral, was heard to say not so long ago that “we can’t spend our money fast enough”.
It’s just as well though, because there’s no doubt that India is going to have to do more to patrol its waters. The Arabian Sea is now deemed to be as dangerous as Somalian waters - previously the home turf of the most active pirates in the world. As of 1 Jan 2011, ships plying the Arabian sea have to pay a war risk insurance premium and the world’s largest private shipping organization Bimco, the Baltic and Maritime Council, has warned the Indian Coast Guard that it may stop using the Arabian Sea Route and the Indian Ocean if piracy in the region isn’t controlled. And piracy is an ever more lucrative business. Average ransom demands have gone up from $150,000 in 2005 to nearly five and a half million dollars - that’s a 36 fold increase in the last five years. There’s a tempting prospect for impoverished fishing communities around South Asian coastlines to follow in the footsteps of Somali fishermen who have found a new metier as highwaymen of the high seas.
Though I continue to lap up the navy gossip though, it’s done nothing to allay my fear of the sea. I’m happy sticking to safe dry land and keeping a sharp ear out for interesting news.
