Article Posted on : - Feb 02, 2011

Admiral Gorshkov.

MOSCOW (BNS): Indian Navy’s Russian-built aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov is getting ready for mooring trials at the Sevmash Shipyard in Severodvinsk.

Major works on the aircraft carrier to be completed in the coming months would be installation of auxiliary steam piping systems and air conditioning systems.

That would mark the beginning of their completion for mooring trials, the shipyard said.

An Indian team, which is presently in Russia to oversee the refurbishing work on the naval vessel, has also met higher officials of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) which has undertaken the task of repairing and modernising Admiral Gorshkov.

The delivery of the aircraft carrier to India has been delayed since 2008.

India had inked a deal with Russia in 2004 to buy the warship at a cost of $974 million.

However, with the Russian shipyard hiking its cost for repair and refit work, the final price of the aircraft carrier went up to $2.33 billion.

Indian Navy now looks forward to receive the 45,000-tonne warship by 2012 end or early 2013 which will be rechristened as INS Vikramaditya.