The Supreme Court of India has ordered further scrapping of INS Viraat to be halted after receiving a plea by a group that offered to buy iconic aircraft carrier and convert it into a maritime museum for Rs1bn ($13.74mn).
Viraat is the Indian Navy’s former flagship aircraft carrier and was docked at Alang for dismantling by Ram Group as on September 28, last year. The ship was in service for almost 30 years and was decommissioned by the Navy in 2017.
On the contrary, Shree Ram Group stated that Viraat has been at Alang shipbreaking yard since December 1. The company stated that no notice regarding the Supreme Court ordering halting the dismantling process was received and until then, they would continue to scrap it.
Almost 40pc of the ship has been dismantled which is a sizable portion given the scrapping of the flight deck, ski jump and others. Several manholes have been drilled in various parts of the vessel for the workers to cut the vessel with gas torches.
($1 = Rs72.75)