With the Indian Navy’s historic aircraft carrier INS Viraat languishing along the Alang coast, it appears set to be scrapped for its metal—unless the Centre can issue a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) to turn it into a museum, and a buyer emerges willing to meet the terms of the Gujarat-based ship-breakers who procured the ship from the government.
A Mumbai-based firm, Envitech Marine Consultants Pvt Ltd, had offered to buy the ship. However, this offer ran into hurdles with terms described as near impossible to meet.
Now, a Shiv Sena MP, Priyanka Chaturvedi, has written to Defence Minster Rajnath Singh asking for the Centre to issue the NOC, and promising that the Maharashtra government would be "happy to cooperate in restoring and preserving the historical ship".
“It was with great sadness and concern I read that the scrapping of historic INS Viraat has been initiated at Alang in Gujarat. INS Viraat, the flagship of the Indian Navy till 2013 has served our nation for almost 30 years...INS Viraat proved pivotal in Operation Jupiter and was deployed during Operation Parakram following the terror attack on the Indian Parliament; we commemorated the incident just yesterday, 13th December,” Chaturvedi wrote.
“We as a nation must use our decommissioned naval ships to help citizens to better understand the significance of India’s maritime history. It saddens me further to note that though there is an offer to convert the warship into a maritime museum, however it awaits a no-objection certificate from the Ministry of Defence for transfer of the warship,” she added.
“It can be saved, if the Government of India so desires. I am certain that State Government of Maharasthra would be happy to cooperate in restoring and preserving the historical ship,” she added.
Other Shiv Sena leaders have yet to comment on the offer.
Earlier, NDTV reported that the Shree Ram Group, which has procured the ship from the government’s Metal Scrap Trade Corporation Limited through an e-auction for Rs 38 crore, has said that if Envitech was willing to send the full payment (estimated at at least Rs 110 crore, nearly thrice the cost price incurred) in one shot and if the government issued a NOC, it would be possible to rescue the ship. Earlier, Envitech had offered to make an interim payment—an offer that the ship-breaking yard rejected.
AFP reported that the shipyard had been approached by two motorcycle manufacturers for the use of its steel. Steel from the INS Vikrant, which was scrapped in 2014, was used by Bajaj in its V15 bike series.
Viraat has historic value not only for India but also for the UK. The ship, formerly the HMS Hermes, was crucial in the United Kingdom’s Falklands campaign. With iconic status in Britain, a former British IT entrepreneur named Andy Trish who used to serve on the ship had launched multiple efforts to preserve it, including plans to raise around $25 million to tow it back to the UK.
