Fire in INS Vikramaditya Not Delays Sea Trials

05.06.2012 Fire happened to Indian aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (former Russian cruiser Admiral Gorshkov) retrofitted by defense shipyard Sevmash in Severodvinsk "by no means will affect the ship's gearing up for sea trials", the yard's press secretary Anastasia Nikitinskaya told ITAR-TASS.

According to her, "a fumigation of technical insulation occurred on June 1 and was eliminated in five minutes". "In full accordance with regulations, all people were evacuated from smoke-filled premises, and fire brigades were called, but there was no need for them", explained Mrs. Nikitinskaya.

Other sources say the fire outbreak happened in 1-st boiler room at 5:17 pm on June 1. Five fire trucks were dispatched to the carrier. Nobody suffered.

INS Vikramaditya was supposed to take the sea for the first time on May 25; however, Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief postponed that date for unknown reasons.

At the trials Indian crew will be assisted by 350 Russian mariners and shipyard's experts, totally over 2,000 men. All cabins and quarters are prepared to accommodate them; totally, there are 2,350 premises in the ship. Sea trials of INS Vikramaditya will be held in the Barents Sea during the first 2 or 3 weeks. Then will start the 3.5-month long tests of aircraft-related systems. The carrier's delivery deadline is Dec 4, 2012.

According to intergovernmental package agreement tied between Russia and India in Jan 2004, hull of Russian aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Gorshkov was handed over to India, given that the ship would be upgraded by Sevmash shipyard and equipped with Russian-made air wing. In addition, Russia committed itself to train about 1,500 Indian crewmen and build the ship's basing infrastructure in the Indian Ocean.

Overall value of the contract was initially estimated as $1.5 bln; it was planned to complete all refitting works in 2008. However, the deadlines were postponed many times. Russian party said the scope of works was undervalued and asked for additional financing for the ship's modernization. On March 12, 2010, when then-premier Putin was visiting India, the parties signed a supplementary agreement on changed cost of repair and modernization for aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (stands for "Almighty"). According to Indian sources, purchase of the Russian carrier would cost about $2.33 bln. Supposedly, lifetime of INS Vikramaditya would be 30 years.

Project 11434 aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Gorshkov (formerly named Baku) joined Soviet Northern Fleet in 1987. After repair and retrofitting under Project 11430, the carrier's full displacement will be 45,000 tons; overall length will be 283.5 meters; overall beam will be 59.8 meters (become 8.8 meters wider). The ship will carry 30 aircraft on board including fighters MiG-29K and helicopters Ka-28 and Ka-31. Crew strength will exceed 2,000 men.