A Mumbai-based company Envitech Marine Consultants Pvt Limited, has come forward to salvage the symbol of India’s rich maritime heritage. The company is planning to convert the ship into a maritime museum that will be docked in the Zuari river in Goa. The Goa government has come on board for the project and written to the Ministry of Defence in this regard.

An official of the Envitech company said it has reached an understanding with the Shree Ram Group which bought the iconic warship for Rs 38.54 crore in an auction conducted by the Metal Scrap Trade Corporation Limited.

The longest-serving warship in the world, INS Viraat was decommissioned three years ago after over three decades of service. Since then efforts have been on to save it from the fate that INS VIKRANT had met — dismantled in Bombay in 2014.

No corporate house was willing to put in the money for a museum. States like Goa, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh had shown interest but intentions did not travel far enough to save the ship.

However, Union Shipping Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, at an event to bid adieu to the warship, said the government was willing to spend Rs 400-500 crore on the museum project, but experts warned the ship would not last for more than 10 years.

INS Viraat was originally commissioned by the British Royal Navy as HMS Heremes on November 18, 1959, and saw action during the Falklands War in 1982. In 1986, the Indian Navy brought it and since then it has been its centerpiece, sailing 5,88,287 nautical miles.

This means it has spent seven years in sea, circumnavigating the globe 27 times.

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The aircraft carrier served the Indian Navy for 30 years after it was brought to India in 1987 from UK.

It was an emotional moment for Navy veterans to watch INS Viraat leave the Mumbai Harbour abroad which they spent the best years of their career.

“#Mumbai bids adieu to #Viraat as she leaves harbour one final time on her way to Alang, Gujarat. The flagship of @indiannavy served with distinction for three decades after her service in @RoyalNavy as #HMSHermes for over two decades.” tweeted PRO Defence Mumbai.

#Mumbai bids adieu to #Viraat as she leaves harbour one final time on her way to Alang, Gujarat. The flagship of @indiannavy served with distinction for three decades after her service in @RoyalNavy as #HMSHermes for over two decades.@SpokespersonMoD pic.twitter.com/tQssoyw8tp

— PRO Defence Mumbai (@DefPROMumbai) September 19, 2020

As Viraat began its final journey from the Navy dockyard, a Navy helicopter circling overhead provided a majestic backdrop to the vessel’s last voyage.

The aircraft carrier was decommissioned in March 2017. It had served in the UK’s Royal Navy as HMS Hermes and was named INS Viraat after being inducted in the Indian Navy in 1987.

There were attempts to convert ‘Viraat’ into a museum or a restaurant, but none of the plans fructified.

Alang-based Shree Ram group bought it for Rs 38.54 crore at an auction. Viraat will be dismantled at the Alang ship breaking yard, said company chairman Mukesh Patel.

Alang, a beach town, house the world’s biggest ship breaking yard.

Many social media users lamented the failure of successive governments to preserve Viraat and another aircraft carrier Vikrant as maritime museums to depict India’s rich naval heritage, instead of allowing them to be broken down and sold as scrap.

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