One sailor lost a leg and two more were hospitalized after an oxygen cylinder exploded on the Indian Navy diving support ship INS Nireekshak.
Indian media reported that two sailors could be treated for splinter injuries while one had to have his leg amputated above the knee.
The incident took place April 16 while the ship was 40 nautical miles off the coast of Vizhinjam.
The explosion occurred while a diving bailout bottle, a small 12-inch oxygen bottle, was being charged, a Navy official was reported as saying.
Such an incident had never happened in the history of the Indian Navy, the official added.