Vikrant on sale for junkyard?

"We will auction the ship after July 31 if a decision on the site doesn’t come through," Rear Admiral BK Ray, Chief Staff Officer, Western Naval Command told mediapersons on the Vikrant today.

The navy’s drastic decision appears to be prompted in part by a leak which sprang in the hull of the ship on April 21. Though detected and plugged in time by alert crew, the navy isn’t happy with the dangerous scenario. "I’m worried about the ship," Rear Admiral Ray said. "If it sinks at its berth, the world will call us a useless organisation and besides we would have to spend crores to refloat it."

The ship which was decommissioned 16 months ago is checked every three days for its "hull potential" or hull condition. Recently, these graphs have shown that the hull has been dangerouslyweakened by corrosion and barnacles. On May 14, Western Naval Command headquarters dashed off a letter to K Nalinakshan, Principal Secretary (Urban Development) of the State Government informing him of the Navy’s decision. The principal secretary heads the State Government’s special committee constituted to speed up the project.

Conceived by the Navy in April 1996, the Rs 75-cr proposal to convert the Vikrant into a maritime museum has been approved by the State, particularly Chief Minister Manohar Joshi. Last year, the CM had even promised Rs 30-cr for the project from State funds. In a meeting held on board the ship this January, the CM promised to fast-track the project.

However, the project is presently still stuck at the location clearance stage. The Jamshedji Bunder site, near the Radio Club selected by the Navy and State Government belongs to the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT). The Port Trust had convened a five-member sub-committee to study the museum proposal which is yet to submit a report. It is thisbureaucratic delay which has rankled the Navy. If a site clearance is granted in time, the navy will spend Rs 10-cr to dry dock, repair hull plates and repaint the ship before it is towed to its permanent berth off Radio Club. Then come the major expenditures which will need corporate participation. Rs 30-cr for "grouting" or permanently embedding the ship in concrete off Radio Club and Rs 18-cr to be paid to the government as the cost of the ship.

The Navy has also placed a strict list of pre-conditions before the State Government for the conversion of the ship. That it will not be used as a hotel, with overnight stay, no gambling to be permitted, no marriage parties to be allowed on board. Instead, the navy plans to use the ship to inculcate maritime awareness amongst citizens particularly school children from rural Maharashtra. The deck is to converted into a helipad.