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The recent media report regarding the move of Indian Navy’s Viraat for ship breaking at Alang led to an anguish filled brief by Admiral @arunp2810, an ex-Captain and leader of the Sea Harrier pack on board. (1/n)
Brief ‘noise’ in the media has continued since then, sporadically and recently when the ship was to commence its maiden passage to Alang, the graveyard for ships. Similar emotional pleas have been made in the past but have always fallen to deaf ears, the ears that matter. (2/n)
Having found no worthwhile proposal for the hull, the Indian Navy recommended scrapping & rightly so. A decommissioned ship occupies critical berthing space, scarce manpower and resources. Naval and war-related museums are a source of inspiration for the younger generation. (3/n)
Am reminded of the Board Room of WNC, decades ago, with the table-top occupied by emotion filled crewmen of Vikrant. In unison, they said that Vikrant be retained after discussions with MH govt failed. That is the kind of emotional connect soldiers have with their units. (4/n)
IN ran the ship as a museum at considerable cost, in a non-self sustaining model, eating up some revenue. Pocket-friendly tickets could not cater to her daily running costs itself. Several years later, when the hull could be sustained no longer, she was packed off to Alang. (5/n)
Whilst Vikrant was converted into motorcycles, earlier steel hulls of the IN have been reportedly converted to shaving blades etc. Wonder what Viraat’s thick hull plates, at places thicker than 40 mm, be converted to. (6/n)
In a country where history does not find much interest, where kids follow rote to clear history exams in school, heritage museums are of little value. Anything other than self-sustaining models or PPP, in govt. jargon, is a no-go and that has been the tale of Viraat. (7/n)
Several proposals to convert her into a museum have floated in the interim period. The then IN Chief even suggested converting her into a dive site in the Andamans, which have the clearest of waters in India. (8/n)
The proposal did not jell with the short-sighted tourism officials, not realizing the kind of revenues whale-watching and surfing generate for Sri Lanka and diving does, the world over. (9/n)
I worked on one as well. This one proposed to park her in a cove off the city and develop a museum with a hotel cum convention centre and water sports to sustain. The only known maritime related museum of sorts in India is in Visakhapatnam. (10/n)
A submarine on the city beach & TU 142 parked across see unprecedented footfalls. It would have made an interesting triangular tourism circuit with an aircraft carrier. Had then CM not withdrawn support at the centre, Viraat museum could've been a reality in 2020. (11/n)
The recent ‘last ditch’ plea by @rajeev_mp seeking to shake the conscience of industry leaders to shell out 170 Cr to rescue the ship, is commendable. However, the amount is far short of what would be a successful self-sustaining model. (12/n)
Another suggests crowd funding by 17 Mn strong Indian Armed Forces. Incidentally, a similar move in the UK by ex-Hermes crew could raise not more 10,000 GBP, well short of a viable project. (13/13)
