Visakhapatnam: INS Viraat, the world’s oldest aircraft carrier, will be converted into a hotel after it is decommissioned from service later this year.

The Indian Navy has decided to hand over the aging aircraft carrier to the Andhra Pradesh government, chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said in Vijayawada on Monday. Naidu received this assurance from defence authorities on the sidelines of the international fleet review at Visakhapatnam.

The Andhra Pradesh government will convert Viraat into a 500-room hotel or resort.

A final decision on where Viraat would be located has not been taken yet but it is likely to be in Visakhapatnam, an official in the chief minister’s office said. Naidu expects Viraat to draw more tourists to the state that also has the country’s only submarine museum in Visakhapatnam.

INS Kursura, a Soviet-built decommissioned submarine was converted into a museum at Ramakrishna Mission beach in Visakhapatnam in 2002, during the earlier tenure of Naidu. The first submarine museum in South Asia received 270,000 visitors a year in 2010, according to Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority, which maintains the museum ship.

Viraat is currently on its last operational tour of duty and participated in the International Fleet Review in Visakhapatnam together with 100 other ships from 51 countries.

The 28,700-tonne aircraft carrier will retire after 57 years of service, including 29 years in the Indian Navy. The British-built Centaur carrier was inducted into the Indian Navy on 12 May 1987.

Viraat, the last British ship serving the Indian Navy, is the flagship of the Western Naval Command. It can carry up to 26 fighter aircraft and helicopters, including 16 Sea Harriers and helicopters such as Sea Kings, and Chetaks.

It is one of the two aircraft carriers of the Navy. The other INS Vikramaditya became the flagship of the Indian Navy after it was inducted in 2013.

Commander C.G. Raju, public relations officer of the Eastern Naval Command, said Viraat will be decommissioned in 2016.

The defence ministry has approached different state governments with coastline to take responsibility of the aging carrier. Defence minister Manohar Parrikar proposed to hand over Viraat for ₹ 1 if the state government was willing to take responsibility of its upkeep, DNA reported in October.

Viraat, however, is not the first carrier to be proposed as a tourism destination. INS Vikrant, India’s first aircraft carrier was converted into a museum ship in Mumbai after it was decommissioned in 1997. The Maharashtra government maintained the museum from 2001 to 2012 but it was closed down due to safety concerns.

Motorcycle maker Bajaj Auto Ltd. recently introduced a bike named ‘V’ that contains metal sourced from Vikrant. Bajaj bought the scrap metal of Vikrant to make the 150-cc motorcycle. The first bikes made of scrap metal sourced from Vikrant went into production in February and are likely to be released in March.

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