Mumbai: Indian Navy’s disinvested aircraft carrier ‘Virat’ will begin its final voyage from the Naval Dockyard on Saturday and proceed to Alang in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat. According to an Indian Navy statement, the historic vessel was scheduled to leave for Alang on Friday, but its departure has been delayed by a day. According to the statement, some paperwork is still going on and it will take some more time. Hence ‘Virat’ will be flagged off on Saturday. The vessel was in the Indian Navy’s service for 30 years in Mumbai before its discharge in 2017. It was the only warship in the Indian fleet that served in Britain’s Royal Navy and later in the Indian Navy.
There were attempts to convert ‘Virat’ into a museum or restaurant, but the plan failed. The Alang-based Sri Rama Group won the Nilami for the disbandment of the ship. A Navy official said the company had its own high-capacity tugs that would take the vessel to Alang and take two days to get there. The seaside town of Alang has the world’s largest ship dismantling yard.
