NEW
DELHI (NNN-Bernama) -- India has sold its first aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant
to a ship breaker for US$10 million following an auction, China's Xinhua news
agency reported.
INS
Vikrant, purchased as HMS Hercules from Britain in 1957, had played a key role
in enforcing the naval blockade on East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) during the
Indo-Pakistan War of 1971.
The
Indian Navy vessel was sold to a company named I.B. Commercial Pvt Ltd. and has
30 days to settle the payment and tow the ship away.
The
ship was commissioned as the first aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy in 1961.
After
a distinguished service, it was decommissioned in January 1997 and preserved as
a museum ship in Cuffe Parade in Mumbai until it was closed in 2012 due to
safety concerns. --NNN-BERNAMA
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