While the Defence Ministry is reportedly planning to turn the decommissioned aircraft carrier INS Vikrant into scrap, Union Minister of State for Commerce D. Purandeswari wanted the Ministry to shift the ship to Visakhapatnam coast where it could be converted into maritime museum.
In a letter to Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Ms. Purandeswari said INS Vikrant, which is now lying on the coast near Mumbai, has a long relationship with east coast, particularly Visakhapatnam, her Lok Sabha constituency. Many people, from the Indian Navy, merchant navy and people in general in this area want the decommissioned warship converted into a maritime museum. She pointed out that the Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority was already managing the submarine museum located in the decommissioned submarine INS Kursura and was keen on taking up the project of setting up and managing a museum inside INS Vikrant if the Navy shifted the ship to Visakhapatnam coast and handed it over to it.
“If Vikrant is developed into museum, it would be a big tourist attraction and not less than 2500 would visit it every day, Ms. Purandeswari said in her letter to Mr. Antony.
