A fatal accident occurred at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), a state-owned defence shipyard based in Calcutta.
At around 3:30 pm on July 17, a major production accident occurred at the GRSE shipyard in India. The crane sling was broken while installing heavy hull blocks, injuring two workers. Subsequently, the two injured workers were immediately sent to the hospital for emergency treatment.
Unfortunately, one of them (Rajnish Shukla, 35) was pronounced dead after being taken to the hospital, while the other (Gopal Mallick, 41) suffered serious injuries to his spine and hands.
The incident took place at 44 RBD area of GRSE shipyard, which comes under the jurisdiction of Rajabagan police station.
According to local police and eyewitnesses, at the time of the accident, two workers were installing a 2.5-ton hull block onto another hull block. The block was lifted by a crane using two nylon slings. During the operation, one of the slings broke, causing it to fall and hit the two workers, resulting in the tragic result of one death and one injury.
Preliminary investigations indicate that both workers were contract workers. Police are continuing to investigate the cause of the accident and assessing whether safety procedures were adequately followed.
GRSE is affiliated to the Indian Ministry of Defense and is famous for building ships and offshore engineering vessels. Its history can be traced back to 1884. It currently has modern shipbuilding infrastructure, VR laboratories and other shipbuilding equipment.
In 2024, GRSE increased its shipbuilding capacity from 20 ships per year to 24 ships, with the goal of expanding its shipbuilding capacity to 28 ships by the end of 2025. As of March 31, 2025, GRSE’s total orders amounted to 226.8 billion rupees (approximately US$2.635 billion).