Other sailors stationed on vessels berthed nearby were admitted to a navy hospital with burn injuries.
“Eighteen sailors were on board the submarine, they have not been evacuated yet,” navy spokesman P.V. Satish told AFP.
The submarine was fully operational and was therefore carrying a “full complement of torpedoes and missiles”, he said.
In February 2010, the INS Sindhurakshak also suffered a fire while docked in Visakhapatnam city in southern India, killing a 24 year old sailor and leaving two others with burns.
An inquiry into the cause of the explosion has been ordered and Defence Minister Antony and India’s navy chief arrived at the scene in the afternoon.
One senior naval officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the “needle of suspicion” was on the battery system as the source of the fire, but he stressed that these were early assumptions.
A spokesman for the Russian Zvyozdochka company which overhauled INS Sindhurakshak’s weapons, navigation and power generator systems said that India raised no objections about the vessel when it was returned after testing in April.
The submarine, whose name means “Protector of the Seas” in Hindi, is still covered by a Russian warranty and eight Zvyozdochka employees are still in Mumbai, the spokesman said.
“Zvyozdochka is prepared to render its full assistance in the investigation and search for the causes of the accident,” the spokesman told the ITAR TASS news agency.
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