Republic Day celebrations were underway aboard INS Tir on the morning of January 26, 2001. The ship was out at sea on a training sortie, with cadets and crew having just wrapped up Colours and Captain’s divisions on the helo-deck. Breakfast followed, and the mood was relaxed, as off-watch sailors were given a lighter routine for the national holiday.
Then the ship’s broadcast system crackled to life with an unusual call.
“LME Kaushik Pipalva (pictured below), Bridge.”
Engine room mechanics are rarely summoned to the Bridge. The announcement surprised not only Pipalva but also his superiors. Within moments, the young sailor stood before the Executive Officer and Signal Communications Officer.
“Jai Hind, Sir.”
He was handed a pen and paper and told, “I want you to translate this Gujarati radio broadcast.”
What he heard made his hands tremble.
“Today in the morning at 08:46 am IST. A massive earthquake of 7.7 Richter scale has struck the state of Gujarat and caused extensive destruction all across. Its epicentre is believed to be near the city of Bhuj inthe Kutch District of the state. It is believed that a huge number of people are trapped under the debris of buildings. There is panic and chaos all around in the entire state of Gujarat. Such is the widespread impact of the quake, even in the city of Ahmedabad, that a large number of buildings have crumbled. After the quake, all communications are broken with Kutch District, which is the largest district of India.”
Pipalva’s family lived in Gujarat. As he translated the words, fear for his loved ones weighed heavily on him.
A Port In Ruins And A Hospital In Crisis
By afternoon, INS Tir berthed at a damaged jetty in Kandla Port.
The scale of destruction was visible everywhere. Collapsed walkways, toppled cargo containers, broken wharf structures and buildings leaning at dangerous angles defined the landscape. The Port Signal and Control Tower stood tilted toward the water.
The ship’s crew quickly coordinated with local authorities. A medical aid camp was set up at the Kandla Port Trust Hospital under the supervision of Tir’s Principal Medical Officer, who happened to be a dental officer. Alongside three medics, Pipalva worked almost non-stop for seven days.
The hospital overflowed with victims suffering fractures and trauma injuries from collapsing structures. Children who had lost parents, grieving spouses and survivors in shock filled the wards. The medics treated wounds and tried to comfort the emotionally shattered.
Severely injured patients were shifted to INS Nirdeshak and INS Jamuna, where operation theatres were set up. Others requiring advanced treatment were airlifted to Naval Hospital Ashvini in Mumbai.
The Navy’s Massive Relief Mobilisation
INS Tir’s effort was part of a larger naval operation that unfolded within days. Relief material, communication equipment and medical teams arrived from multiple naval ships. INS Ganga and INS Himgiri brought rations, blankets and VSAT communication systems. INS Nirdeshak surveyed underwater channels to help reopen the port quickly.
Ministry of Home Affairs tableau highlights Bhuj earthquake and 25 years of resilience by NDMA and NDRF. pic.twitter.com/jCLIsML3ig
— News Arena India (@NewsArenaIndia) January 26, 2026
Helicopters and Dornier aircraft ferried doctors, medicines and equipment between Mumbai, Kandla and Bhuj. Medical camps were established across affected areas, including Jamnagar, Chapla and Bachao villages. Naval personnel assisted with restoring power, communication and even the grim task of removing bodies.
Naval establishments diverted their own rations for survivors. Personnel donated a day’s salary. Naval Base Valsura adopted a village in Jamnagar district.
A Sailor Finally Goes Home
After a week of relentless relief duty, INS Tir sailed to Porbandar. There, the Engineer Officer sent Pipalva home for 10 days. He arrived to find his family safe, though their house had developed cracks.
The memory of that morning broadcast, however, stayed with him.
Today, the episode stands as a reminder of how a routine Republic Day at-sea exercise turned into one of the Indian Navy’s significant aid-to-civil-power missions, as sailors became first responders in one of India’s worst natural disasters.
(With inputs from Chief Kaushik Pipalva)
(The writer is a veteran of the Indian Navy, a strategic affairs expert and author of ‘Balakot Air-Strike – How India Avenged Pulwama’)
