INS Vikramaditya, one of the Indian Navy’s latest additions to the fleet, and at the same time the most expensive one, has had a bumpy ride home from the Russian Sevmash shipyard, writes the Hindustan Times.
Namely, as reported, the aircraft carrier faced embarrassing glitches on the journey to the Karwar naval base in Karnataka.
The long awaited warship had suffered a breakdown on one of its eight boilers during its 42-day trip, compromising the warship’s ability to sail through choppy seas at a top speed of up to 56 kmph, according to a Navy source.
What is more, the 44,500-tonne aircraft carrier failed to refuel near the Portuguese coast, questioning the Navy’s ability to replenish warships at sea.
Having reached Karwar, the INS Vikramaditya was subjected to a comprehensive inspection of its boilers.
The inspection was dubbed by top Navy officials as “routine maintenance work”, claiming that there were no significant problems with the ship’s functioning.
The warship had encountered boiler problems amid 2012 sea trials due to boiler design hiccups.
The refurbished INS Vikramaditya, formerly known as Admiral Gorshkov, was handed over to the Indian Navy last year, five years behind schedule, under a price which was 60pct higher than that of a brand-new aircraft carrier.
The Navy will submit a detailed report on the incidents.
Images in the following gallery have been provided by the Indian Navy and show INS Vikramaditya in action at sea:
[mappress] Naval Today Staff, February 12, 2014; Image: Indian Navy