Vikramaditya Aircraft Carrier A 'Shipwreck', Says Russian Paper

Calling the refurbishment of the Russian aircraft carrier, the INS Vikramaditya, a “shipwreck", Russia has blamed Chinese firebricks for the latest delay, a charge which China today denied. A report in the Ria Novosti Newspaper has said that the Vikramaditya project is turning into a "shipwreck of its own" owing to technical problems and project delays. The aircraft carrier suffered propulsion problems during sea trials. Russia claims that firebricks sourced from China are to be blamed for boiler failures. According to the United Russian Shipbuilding Corporation, the ship's boilers had been damaged due to failures in the brick insulation separating them from the ship's structure. The shipyard also used the “sub-standard Chinese firebricks” because India allegedly refused to use asbestos around the boilers. A claim refuted by India. “There is no question of India’s refusal to use of asbestos since it is internationally banned. At the time of signing the contract, it was simply specified in the agreement,” Official spokesperson for the Indian Navy, Commander Satish told Defenseworld.net. Meanwhile, China has also rubbished the shipyard’s claims. "We checked this, and found that Chinese enterprises which make such firebricks for naval propulsion systems have never exported such products to Russia," said China’s Defense Minister Yan Yujun. The string of misfortunes has led to the postponement of the delivery of the INS Vikramaditya to October 2013 from the earlier December 2012. The cost of repairs has also set India back by about $2.3 billion. In 2005, India and Russia had signed a contract worth $947 million for the purchase of the ship whose delivery has been delayed twice now. Formerly known as the Admiral Gorshkov, the aircraft carrier has suffered a trail of boiler failures since its launch in 1978. It wasn’t until 1995 that she returned to service and was put on sale the following year. According to the Ria Novosti report, several Russian ships of the same class as the Admiral Gorshkov (INS Vikramaditya), had suffered technical problems.