TTDC to dredge sea to transfer Vagli onshore

Initial plan to shift the submarine using
steel plates along seabed fails
C Shivakumar

Chennai:

Rough sea along the Mamallapuram coast has forced Tamil Nadu Tourism department officials to think of an alternate plan to dredge the sea to transfer Indian Navy submarine Vagli to the 30 acres of land abutting the beach near the UNESCO declared World Heritage site.

The earlier plan was to have steel plates in the sea bed cushioned by airbags to pull the submarine onshore.

However, due to the rough sea the steel plates could not be fixed in the seabed as such officials are working out an alternate plan to transfer the submarine to the land.

Officials said the alternate plan is to dredge the sea to create an artificial canal from which the submarine will be shifted onshore using the latest technology and mounted on a platform by Tradex Shipping Corporation.

“This method is a costlier one when compared to earlier method,” a TTDC official said. He said an expert committee is currently discussing the alternate plan.

“Once this plan gets a green signal, we will have Vagli mounted on the platform by next month,” he said.

He said Vagli is now sent back to Chennai Port. “The vessel was unmanned. Due to safety reasons, we have sent back the submarine to Chennai Port,” he added.

The submarine was stationed at Chennai Port for more than a year and TTDC has already spent Rs 3 crore for maintenance of the submarine.

Interestingly, TTDC’s contract with Tradex Shipping Corporation has come to an end this month. But TTDC sources said the contract would be extended and Tradex will help mount the submarine on the platform either using steel plates or dredging the sea.

Once the submarine is mounted on a platform then a tender will be floated to convert the submarine into museum, the TTDC official said.