India Thursday appointed Admiral Robin K. Dhowan as the country's new naval chief, two months after his predecessor, Admiral D.K. Joshi, resigned in wake of a series of disasters involving naval warships and submarines.

The 59-year-old new Indian navy chief will have a tenure of a little over two years.

An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Defence Services Staff College and Naval War College in the US, Admiral Dhowan has commanded frontline warships including INS Khukri, INS Ranjit, INS Delhi and also served as Chief Staff Officer (Operations) Headquarters Western Naval Command.

In fact, the Indian Navy was running without a chief after Admiral Joshi had resigned two months back, taking "moral responsibility" of a number of mishaps involving naval warships and submarines over the last one year.

The biggest mishap had occurred when INS Sindhurakshak sank at Mumbai port, killing all the 18 personnel on board on August 14 last year.