INS Viraat during the 2007 Malabar naval wargames with the US Navy.
New Delhi:
In a letter to the Defense Ministry, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said the Maharashtra government is “happy to cooperate in the restoration and preservation of the historic ship” INS Viraat, which served as India’s aircraft carrier.
“It was with great sadness and concern [that] I read that the scrapping of the historic INS Viraat started in Alang in Gujarat, “said Ms Chaturvedi.
The letter, which asks the Defense Ministry for a certificate of no objection to preserve Viraat, comes at a time when the dismantled warship is being washed ashore by a shipbreaking ship in Alang before being destroyed as scrap metal.
Envitech, the private company that wants to acquire the warship and turn it into a maritime museum off Goa, approached the Supreme Court today after it became clear that the NOC would not come from the Ministry of Defense, despite the fact that the ship had been sold to Shree. Break Ram ships in Alang for 35.8 crore.
Shree Ram Shipbreaker Chairman Mukesh Patel refuses to dispose of the ship without a government NOC.
“If there is a [government sanctioned] certificate of no objection and [Envitech] send the full payment in one go, then it’s possible, “Mukesh Patel told NDTV yesterday. The total payment for the ship is expected to be in the range of Rs 110 crore.
In today’s letter to Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, Ms Chaturvedi said: “We as a nation must use our decommissioned warships to help citizens better understand the importance of India’s maritime history.” .
“It saddens me even more to note that although there is an offer to convert the warship into a maritime museum, a certificate of no objection from the Ministry of Defense is expected for the transfer of the warship,” he said.
Priyanka Chaturvedi’s letter about the Navy warship Viraat by NDTV on Scribd
In a series of reports, NDTV has highlighted the plight of Viraat, the dismantled Indian Navy warship that was India’s flagship for several decades and came to define India’s maritime power.
Prior to being commissioned into the Indian Navy in 1986, Viraat served as HMS Hermes in the Royal Navy, where he fought with distinction in the 1982 Falkland Islands war in the South Atlantic.
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