Snags during trials push back Gorshkov delivery date

The delivery of Admiral Gorshkov, the Russian aircraft carrier the contract for which was signed after strenuous price negotiations between New Delhi and Moscow, has been delayed further as seven of its eight boilers stopped functioning during trials in the Barents Sea.

 

Admiral Gorshkov steaming during trials

 

After a delay of nearly four years, the Indian Navy was upbeat that the floating deck carrier, rechristened as INS Vikramaditya (meaning Brave as the Sun) was scheduled to be handed over by the Sevmash Dockyard in Russia on December 4. However, this snag has pushed back the delivery date by several months.

According to the Russian media, Gorshkov had embarked on sea trials on July 8 this year when the warship took to sea after 18 long years. The programme designed for 124 days with priority to conduct flight trials and power plant of the carrier. The ship has been sailing for nearly 90 days now with about 500 Indian sailors onboard led by Captain S Berry.

The Russian “Kommersant” while quoting officials said: “Once the cruiser (the aircraft carrier) set sail from the Sevmash, no visible problems arose. But the test program called for the development of the maximum speed. (It) Was the beginning of the problem." The warship has not been able to clock its maximum speed as seven of its eight power plant boilers “went out of action”. Boilers are the heart of a ship.

The Indian Navy has, however, not received any communication from the Russian authorities. “We have not received any official information about it. But according to initial reports we expect few months delay,” Indian Navy officials said here in Delhi. The officials say that considering refurbishment of Gorhskov was a huge project certain glitches were envisaged.

“We were expecting few glitches during the trials considering it is a huge project. However, the contract signed with the Russians cater for this and provides for 3-4 months of delay,” Indian officials added. According to deadline, the Gorshkov was to be handed over to the Indian Navy on December 4 and thereafter it would have reached Indian shores in another 2-3 months.

“The contract caters for the delay. But if the delivery is pushed beyond this limit, we can also impose penalty,” the Indian officials added. The Indian Navy remains optimistic and expects the delivery by October 2013. “The ship is still sailing and aircraft are operating from it. It is not that the ship is stricken or drifting,” the Indian Navy officials added.

 

Admiral Gorshkov project hit the headlines in 2007 when Russia said that it will not be able to meet its initial deadline of 2008 and pushed it back to 2010. Later it increased the price of the refurbishment of the warship from $1.5 billion to $ 2.5 billion.