Mumbai: In making a final appeal to save the decommissioned aircraft carrier INS Vikrant ahead of the Supreme Court’s decision, retired Indian Navy officers and activists have pointed out how essential it is to have a maritime museum in Mumbai.

The Indian Naval Ship (INS) Kursura, a submarine, was converted into a museum in Vishakapatnam, the USS Intrepid is an air and space museum in New York and given a place on Hudson River, while HMS Belfast is moored in London on the River Thames giving people a chance to peek into life on board these warships.

“Yet, INS Vikrant, once the pride of the Indian Navy and which played a heroic role during the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971 — that saw the liberation of Bangladesh — is counting her last moments,” said former Vice-Admiral I C Rao. He was the chief engineer on the Vikrant between 1975-76 when they saw flying operations of Sea Hawks, the French Alize anti-submarine aircraft, Sea King and Alouette, now Chetak, helicopters.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, a day before the Supreme Court took a decision on whether India’s first aircraft carrier should be scrapped, Rao, along with former Captain Lawrence Nathaniel said it was a “shame” the government could not allocate funds to preserve a “national treasure” while it was willing to spend Rs2 billion (Dh122 million) to build a Statue of Unity in Gujarat.

The Bombay High Court gave the go-ahead to be auctioned in January after rejecting a petition to save the ship and convert it into a maritime museum. In March, the Indian Navy sold Vikrant to a Mumbai-based ship breaking company for Rs630 million. However, activists moved the apex court, which in May ordered a status quo to be maintained.

“If the stay is vacated, we will appeal not only to the Supreme Court but also to the Government of Maharashtra, Bombay Port Trust, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the Indian Navy to save the Vikrant by arranging for it to be grouted at a suitable spot — perhaps off Sasoon Dock.”

He is convinced that contrary to authorities saying that its “hull is falling apart and its life over, we believe this is all nonsense. We are certain it won’t be a burden.”

After being decommissioned in 1997, the Vikrant was converted into a museum and attracted considerable attention with nearly 10,000 visitors, including a lot of curious students, coming to see India’s first aircraft carrier.

Meera Sanyal, the Aam Aadmi Party candidate for South Mumbai who stood for Lok Sabha elections and lost, said, “We talk about tourist spots for Mumbai; this would be a perfect example and also promote a sense of pride in the Indian Navy.”

She also mentioned how the state government was frantically looking for a helipad in South Mumbai when the Vikrant could be ideally used for such a purpose. Moreover, the city does not have a good convention centre and the ship could house a convention centre as well as helipad and thus draw adequate funds.

“[At present], she is beached in Darukhana ship breaking yard — a graveyard of all ships,” she said.