| Publication |
2012.
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| Summary/Abstract |
St Petersburg: Even as this is being written, INS Vikramaditya, the aircraft carrier that the Indian government has a paid a fortune to acquire, will be going through its paces in White Sea and Barents Sea, off Severodvinsk, where Sevmash Shipyard is located. If things go well, then this would be the last round of sea trials, before the mammoth ship sails home to India.
However, as the proverb goes, there are many a slips between the cup and the lip. And last year, the deadline for delivery of the aircraft carrier fell through one such slip. During the sea trials last year, which were supposed to have been final test of mettle, eight boilers (that power the ship) started to overheat, leading to the melting of the cardboard-based material that had earlier replaced asbestos on Indian demand. This caused damage to the surrounding bricks. As a result, instead of achieving the optimum speed of 28 knots, INS Vikramaditya could not push itself beyond 27.8 knots
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