On Thursday, 20 Nov, an Indian Navy Submarine on transit along the West Coast was hit by a fishing vessel. The fishing boat capsized with all its crew falling into the water. The Indian Navy confirmed that an Indian fishing vessel Marthoma with a crew of 13 collided with an Indian Naval submarine. Amid this on social media, an image of submarine has gone viral. While sharing the image users claim that Indian Navy submarine collides with fishing vessel, all 38 Indian navy personal on board killed.”
Fact Check
During the investigation, DFRAC found that the claim was false. We examined the claim on close inspection, found a report from ‘The New Indian Express’ published on 23 Nov, 2024 stating “Indian Navy submarine collides with fishing vessel off Goa coast; 11 rescued, two missing.”
Moreover, we found multiple media reports carrying same image. According to ‘Indian express’ published on 7 March, 2021 “Indian Naval Ship (INS) Karanj, which will be commissioned on March 10, is the third of the six Kalvari-class diesel electric submarines to start functioning in the navy since 2017. We can proudly say that Karanj is the first truly indigenous submarine. It encapsulates the spirit of ‘Make in India’. Karanj is like a child to us who we have seen growing into a war weapon, said Commanding Officer Captain Gaurav Mehta who has served over 20 years in the navy.”
Furthermore, we also found report by Financial Express, Times of India and The Quint carrying the image of INS Karanj. The Financial Express report published in 2021, while TOI and the Quint report were from 2018.
Conclusion
It is evident from the DFRAC’s fact check that the viral image is of INS Karanj, which has nothing to do with the claim made by the users that Indian Navy submarine collides with fishing vessel, all 38 Indian navy personnel onboard killed. Therefore, the claim of social media users is misleading.
