The decommissioned aircraft carrier “Viraat” will finally be converted into a majestic maritime museum and it will be berthed at the Konkan coast in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district.
Announcing this after a weekly Cabinet meeting here, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the ‘Viraat” maritime museum project would be implemented at a cost of Rs 852 crore on a “public-private partnership” model.
“We intend to locate the Viraat Museum on a concrete foundation built in the sea 7 nautical miles off the Nivati Rocks off the Malvan coast in Sindhudurg district,” the chief minister said.
Nivati Rocks is in the vicinity of Nivati Fort which Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji in the seventeenth century immediately after the nearby Sindhudurg fort was built. The fort was used to look over the Karli creek and the Vengurla port.
Fadnavis said that the Maharashtra government would appoint a high-level committee under the chairmanship of the State chief secretary to decide on the private industrialists as investors for the project and also to decide on the terms and conditions for floating tenders for the purpose.
Apart housing a maritime museum, the Viraat complex will provide adventure sport facilities like sailing and skydiving. There will also marine training facility for merchant sailors.
By deciding to convert “Viraat” into a maritime museum, Maharashtra has pipped the states of Goa and Andhra Pradesh which were also in the raqce for the Viraat maritime museum project.
The British-made INS Viraat has been docked in the Mumbai harbour ever since it was decommissioned on March 6, 2017.
Viraat, an aircraft carrier, was commissioned into the Indian Navy on May 12. 1987. The ship held the Guinness Books of record for being the longest serving warship of the world. The ship which was the centre piece of the Navy, housed the fighters Sea Harriers of INAS 300 popularly called “White Tigers”, Anti Submarine aircraft Sea king Mk 42B, Sea King Mk 42 C known as “Harpoons” and the SAR helicopter Chetak as an integral flight.
The ingenious Air Light Helicopter Rs Dhruv’ and the Russian twin rotor Kamov-31 also operated onboard the ship. The Sea Harriers fleet was decommissioned at Goa on May 11, 2016.
Under the Indian Flag, the ship has clocked more than 22,622 flying hours by various aircraft in the past three decades and has spent nearly 2252 days at sea sailing and 5,88,287 NM (10,94,215 KM).
In essence, INS Viraat spent seven years at sea, covering the entire globe 27 times. Since her inception she had a total of 80,715 hours of boiler running. She played a major role in the Operation Jupiter in 1989 in Sri Lankan Peace Keeping operation, after which she was affiliated with Garhwal Riffles and Scouts of the Indian Army in 1990.
Her major participation was seen during Op Parakram in 2001-2002 where India and Pakistan were engaged in a stand off post terrorist attack on the Parliament. The ship was instrumental in honing the art of flying operations from a carrier deck in the Navy, which also resulted in seamless induction of INS Vikramaditya and its integration with the fleet.
The ship participated in various international joint exercises like Exercise Malabar (USA), exercise Varuna (French), Naseem-Al-Bahar (Oman Navy). She was also an integral element of all the annual theater level exercise (TROPEX). The last operational deployment of Viraat was for participation in International Fleet Review (IFR 2016) off Vishakhapatnam in February 2016.
‘Mother’, as she was referred to in the Western Navy, had been commanded by 22 Captains since 1987. She has been the Flag Ship of the Navy since her inception. Around 40 Flag officers including fiveChiefs of Naval Staff were raised and groomed in her lap. Her legacy under the Royal flag was no less. As HMS Hermes, she was commanded by 13 Captains of the Royal Navy. Her role in operation Mercy in 1974 and Falklands in 1982 are now text book references for victory, for future navies.