The huge aircraft carrier sails out of Severodvinsk where she has been for repair since the boilers onboard suffered severe problems during last summer’s sea trails in the Barents Sea. The aircraft carrier now sails northbound the White Sea, heading for the areas outside the entrance to the Kola Bay in the Barents Sea where the Russian Northern fleet normally has its exercises.
“INS Vikramaditya” will over the next two months be put through stringent tests, hopefully with better results than last summer. If all goes well, the Indian flag will be hoisted by early autumn and the vessel will sail towards India. Last summer’s failure was when the fire-brick lining made of ceramic in the boilers was damaged when the vessel hit top speed of 30 knots. The Sevmash yard in Severodvinsk now assures that the problems are fixed.
Originally, “INS Vikramaditya” was supposed to be delivered in 2008 and the (so far) six years delay is seen as an embarrassing torn in Indian, Russian military hardware cooperation.
