DHOWAN TAKES OVER AS NAVY CHIEF
Admiral Robin Dowan
on Thursday took over as the Chief of Naval
Staff, a post that was lying vacant for nearly two months, and
declared his intent to focus on preventing mishaps that have plagued the force
and making it combat ready to meet all the challenges.
The 59-year-old navigation and direction specialist
was the Vice Chief of Navy and was appointed as Acting Chief of the Naval Staff
after Admiral D K Joshi quit as the Chief on 26th February in the wake of a
series of mishaps involving Naval submarines and other assets.
Dhowan, who superseded Western Commander Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha and will
have a tenure of 25 months, listed out his priorites soon after taking over.
Identifying safety as one of the priorities against the backdrop of a series of
mishaps, he said the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPS) would have to be
implemented strictly to ensure that there are no accidents.
"Being a professional navy, we have to ensure that these incidents do not
happen in future. And the way to do that is that we follow the laid down
Standard Operating Procedures and we don't take any shortcuts that lead to
these accidents," he told reporters in New Delhi.
"We have effective safety audits in place and strict procedures by which
we will follow SOPs to ensure that accidents don't happen," he said.
Over the last 10 months, the Navy has suffered 14 mishaps including two
involving submarines.
Among his other priorities, Dhowan said he would ensure that the Navy is combat
ready to meet all the challenges at all times and make sure that Navy men and
officers are trained professionally and adequately.
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