India to decommission world's oldest serving aircraft carrier INS Viraat next week
Xinhua, February 28, 2017 Adjust font size:
India will decommission its second aircraft carrier, INS Viraat, also the world's oldest serving aircraft carrier, next week.
Indian Navy's Vice Admiral Girish Luthra said Monday that INS Viraat will be decommissioned on March 6. "When the ship was purchased from Britain, India had planned to use it for five years. It went on to serve for 30 years," he told the media.
Before it was rechristened as INS Viraat in 1986, the aircraft carrier had spent 27 years in Britain's navy as HMS Hermes.
However, Indian Defense Ministry is yet to decide on the ship's eventual fate.
"There is a proposal for converting the ship (INS Viraat) into a maritime museum. We are expecting a final decision from the Ministry of Defense very soon," Luthra said. The government of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh has plans to convert the ship into a luxury hotel-cum-museum.
After the decommissioning of INS Viraat, the Indian Navy will be left with just one aircraft carrier, the Russian vessel Admiral Gorshkov, renamed as INS Vikramaditya.
On the next aircraft carrier, the Vice Admiral said it is under construction at Cochin. "It will be named Vikrant. As per the contract with the Cochin Shipyard, the ship will commence trials by end-2018 or early 2019," he said. Endit