Navy chief Admiral DK Joshi met Defence Minister AK Antony here on Monday amidst reports that aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya had developed some snags while on its way to India from Russia in early January.
The 2.3 billion dollar ship was formally inducted into the Indian Navy by Defence Minister AK Antony in mid-November last year and one of the eight boilers developed problems during the 15,000 nautical miles sea voyage from Russia to the ship’s mother base in Karwar, Karnataka. The aircraft carrier traveled non-stop over 40 days and several times refueled in sea by accompanying Indian Navy oil tanker ship.
While the Navy denied that the boilers faced glitches and maintained that the 45,000-ton ship reached India in a smooth journey, officials confirmed that Joshi had an unscheduled meeting with Antony after reports came out in media on Monday. Officials, however, refrained from giving details and said it was a one-on-one meeting between the Navy chief and the defence minister. They also said the defence ministry is yet to get a report from the Navy about the reported snags adding the carrier is now sailing and MIG-29 K fighter jets have started landing and taking off from its runway. It was reported that one of the boilers malfunctioned thereby compromising the ship’s capability to negotiate rough seas at a speed of more than 58 kmph.