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| Indian Navy Aircraft Carrier INS Viraat |
The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the dismantling of decommissioned aircraft carrier INS Viraat after hearing a petition by a firm seeking to convert the ship into a maritime museum and multi-functional adventure centre. The apex court also issued notice to the company that bought the ship from the government to be made into scrap.
A last-ditch effort was made to save India’s longest-serving warship after a Mumbai-based company, named Envitech Marine Consultants Pvt Limited, had come forward to convert the ship into a maritime museum that will be docked in the Zuari river in Goa. A large portion of the carrier has already been dismantled when the order to stop work for now came today.
• The centaur-class aircraft carrier was in service with the Indian Navy for 29 years before being decommissioned in March 2017.
• The aircraft carrier was originally commissioned by the British Royal Navy as HMS Heremes on November 18, 1959, and saw action during the Falklands War in 1982.
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• In 1986, the Indian Navy brought it and since then it has been its centerpiece, sailing 5,88,287 nautical miles.
• It was the flagship vessel of the Indian Navy before INS Vikramaditya was commissioned in 2013.
• It holds the record for being the world’s longest-serving warship as it served the Indian Navy for almost three decades.
• The Centre had in July 2019 informed the Parliament that decision to scrap Viraat was taken after due consultation with the Indian Navy.
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• A Mumbai-based company, named Envitech Marine Consultants Pvt Limited, had come forward to convert the ship into a maritime museum that will be docked in the Zuari river in Goa. The Goa government has come on board for the project and written to the Ministry of Defence in this regard.
• The Defence Ministry in December last year had formally rejected an eleventh-hour plan to try and save INS Viraat from being broken up for scrap by the shipbreaker in Gujarat.
• The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the dismantling of decommissioned the aircraft carrier after hearing a petition by a firm seeking to convert the ship into a maritime museum and multi-functional adventure centre. It has also issued notice to the company that bought the ship from the government to be made into scrap.
• A large portion of the carrier has already been dismantled when the order to stop work for now came today.