INS Vikramaditya completes its first dry-dock refit in Kochi

The aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya , has successfully completed its first routine maintenance, a 43-day short refit, at the Cochin Shipyard. It is at a high level of operational competence and preparedness, according to the ship’s Commanding Officer Captain Krishna Swaminathan. The maiden dry-docking of the vessel after its induction into the Navy in November 2013, had put to rest apprehensions about the feasibility

of carrying out its first cycle of underwater maintenance within India, he told the media on board INS Vikramaditya .  The ship arrived in Kochi in early September, and was dry-docked at the Cochin Shipyard on September 23. INS Vikramaditya was docked after the undocking of the soon-to-be-retired aircraft carrier INS Viraat.

“After the first cycle of preventive maintenance, which involved a thorough inspection of the carrier’s underwater package, was over, the vessel was undocked on November 5. Vikramaditya, a steamship, has a large number of pipes and underwater openings. The hull plates that are in contact with the corrosive medium of seawater – all got inspected,” said Capt. Swaminathan.

The vessel added a great national capability, enhancing the image of the Navy.

Capt. Swaminathan said there were initial apprehensions about dry-docking the vessel in Kochi as there were technical challenges posed by the depth of the channel, which was eventually dredged to a desired level, and the length of the carrier overshot the yard’s dry-dock. “We had to a do a lot of calculations and the Cochin Shipyard has done a good job.”