UK politico wants to turn INS Viraat into a museum

A Mumbai-born former Member of the European Parliament (MEP), David Campbell Bannerman, has expressed interest in saving the decommissioned aircraft carrier INS

A Mumbai-born former Member of the European Parliament (MEP), David Campbell Bannerman, has expressed interest in saving the decommissioned aircraft carrier INS Viraat which will be up for auction on December 17, to create an Anglo Indian museum in the United Kingdom (UK).

HT Image

“We plan to turn it into a museum so that the Indian diaspora in the UK can attend events on Republic Day, Diwali, and Independence Day onboard,” Bannerman said.

In the letter to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday, Bannerman asked for his intervention to postpone the auction till March 2020. “I request your very urgent intervention with Prime Minister Modi to postpone the auction bid to scrap merchants.”

HT had reported last month that the ship which was consigned to being scrapped in July this year, will be up for auction on December 17, before it is sent to be scrapped. As per the clauses laid, the ship cannot be towed outside the country. Originally commissioned as the HMS Hermes of the British Royal Navy in 1959, INS Viraat holds the Guinness record for being the oldest serving warship in the world.