Indian Navy aicrcraft carrier INS Vikrant undocking postponed

To be commissioned in 2018

Computer rendering

Siltation and a minor technical glitch in lowering the building bay dock gate, which was last operated when the maiden indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant was taken in post-launch for the second phase of work a year-and-a-half ago, have forced the Cochin Shipyard to defer the undocking of the carrier to Monday.

The aircraft carrier was to have been undocked on completion of structural work on Saturday.

Flooding of the dock and ballasting of the carrier, weighing about 26,000 tonnes minus the ballast, had begun on Friday.

However, unfavourable tide and a bit of siltation at the dock mouth besides a minor glitch with the dock gate forced the undocking to be put off. Sources said the carrier would continue to be outfitted for over a year-and-a-half after undocking when the second phase of construction would draw to a close. The yard considers this to be the most challenging phase during which cabling, piping, accommodation facility, air conditioning and ventilation systems would be done.

Once complete, the carrier will have some 2,300 compartments.