New Delhi: India's first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC-I) being built by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) has moved one step closer to be inducted into the Indian Navy. IAC-I completed its basin trial on the last day of November 2020. Basin trials are the precursor to the sea trials. In a way, it can be said that the Indian Navy is all set to welcome the first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC-I) in its fleet. Basin Trail is a process of testing of the ship equipment and gear in floating situations earlier than the ocean trials. After completing basin trails successfully, the ship has entered in the final phase of the development. The ship is now likely to undergo sea trials in early 2021. The Kochi Defence PRO informed about the successful trials in a tweet on Monday.
IAC-I is a 260 meters long and 60 meters wide vessel displacing 37,500-tonnes. The maximum speed of the ship is announced at 28 knots, with a range of 7,500 nautical miles at a speed of 18 knots. INS Vikrant is set to receive a large crew complement composed of 160 officers and 1,400 sailors. The STOBAR aircraft carrier will be able to accommodate up to 30 fighters and helicopters, including Mig-29K fighters jets and Ka-31 helicopters. The construction of this ship began on February 28, 2009, and was scheduled to deliver on September 2021. Due to restrictions imposed by the government to control the spread of Coronavirus, the delivery of the ship has been extended and expected to be delivered by December 2021.
The basin trials were carried out in the presence of Vice Admiral AK Chawla (Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command) and CSL's Chairman & Managing Director (CMD( Madhu S Nair. "Basin Trial of Indigenous Aircraft Carrier, aimed at proving the Main Propulsion Plant & a host of other ship systems in the harbour was successfully held at CSL in the presence of VAdm AK Chawla, FOC in C, SNC & Shri Madhu Nair, CMD. Basin Trail is a precursor to the ensuing Sea Trial," CSL tweeted.
Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) is the largest shipbuilding and maintenance facility under the administrative control of the Ministry of Shipping. It is part of a line of maritime-related facilities in the port-city of Kochi, in the state of Kerala. The company was incorporated in the year 1972 as a fully government-owned company. In the last three decades, the company has emerged as a forerunner in the Indian shipbuilding and ship repair industry. This yard can build and repair the largest vessels in India. It can build ships up to 1,10,000 DWT and repair ships up to 1,25,000 DWT. The yard has delivered two of India's largest double hull Aframax tankers each of 95,000 DWT.
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