Why ship museums are important

Building a maritime tradition requires a comprehensive understanding of matters maritime. It requires knowledge and skill in fields such as seafaring, sailing, ocean economics, navies, fishing industry, offshore development, maritime crime, maritime law, maritime security and several other aspects that constitute maritime education. These disciplines are rarely introduced or taught in any Indian school or university and hence the overall awareness of the maritime domain and activities connected with the seas is limited to those who actually venture into them as a profession.

“One picture is worth a thousand words,” goes the adage. An authentic experience is worth more than a thousand pictures. Since not everyone can have the unique experience of working and living on the oceans, how does the general public get to know about the seas around us and everything that happens on its surface, the skies above it and the depth of the oceans below? Movies and documentaries are useful sources of knowledge, if well made. Some of the most fascinating movies have been made about naval battles and adventures, but they are short-duration productions covering just one incident or adventure rather than an exposure of the bigger maritime picture.

Between documentaries and a comprehensive maritime education, there is a huge gap which can be filled by museums. Before the National Maritime Heritage Museum at Lothal was conceived, there was hardly any maritime museum worth its name in India. The Lothal museum is expected to be ready for public viewing soon. The Navy has attempted to keep some naval history alive through the creation of a few naval museums, preserving and installing decommissioned missile boats ashore, gifting artefacts to educational institutions and collaborating with state administrations that have displayed an interest in setting up naval museums. The loss of INS Khukri in the Indo-Pak War of 1971 was immortalised with a memorial at Diu and the next avatar of Khukri, gifted to the Diu administration upon her decommissioning, adorns the Khukri Memorial today.

The city of Visakhapatnam and the state of Andhra Pradesh stand out as beacons in the otherwise bleak track record of the country in this respect. Visakhapatnam has three naval museums. The Kursura Museum on the Ramakrishna Beach features the decommissioned INS Kursura, a Foxtrot class submarine acquired by the Navy from the erstwhile Soviet Union in the late 1960s. Two more museums, namely, the TU-142M Museum displaying the largest maritime reconnaissance plane in the world of its time, and the Sea Harrier Museum in remembrance of the famous short takeoff and vertical landing carrier-borne fighter also adorn the beach front. These three museums, within a radius of 200m on Visakhapatnam’s most famous tourist spot, are a huge draw. More importantly, they help in educating the public and tourists about naval history.

Vintage beauty: The Sea Harrier Museum in remembrance of the famous short takeoff and vertical landing carrier-borne fighter in Visakhapatnam | Shutterstock

Andhra Pradesh has set up a second TU-142M Museum at the NTR Beach Park in Kakinada. West Bengal, too, has created one at Kolkata, which has become a popular tourist attraction. Tamil Nadu, after showing initial interest in creating a submarine museum, was gifted a decommissioned submarine several years ago. Sadly, the state was unable to take the project to fruition, either because of paucity of funds or lack of a viable project. It rotted away at Chennai harbour for years before it was eventually scrapped. The West Bengal government has displayed interest in setting up a submarine museum at Digha. They would benefit by studying the successful Visakhapatnam model.

Ship-museum proposals, too, have not met with success. When the old aircraft carrier INS Vikrant was decommissioned, there was great enthusiasm in converting it into a museum. The Maharashtra government had agreed in principle to take it on, but backed out several years later for want of a financial model that would provide a good return on investment. Pending disposal instructions, the Navy used the ship as a heritage site for several years before it became unsafe to keep her afloat, besides blocking prime berthing space at the Mumbai naval harbour. Vikrant was finally towed out to the shipbreakers, 15 years after she was decommissioned.

Later, there was clamour for INS Viraat, too, to be converted into a museum. After initial enthusiasm shown by a couple of state governments, there was no firm commitment from any of them. Many emotional press articles were written by ex-crew members and museum activists about the insensitivity of the nation towards preservation of naval heritage. Beyond that, there was little effort on the part of any individual or organisation to commit funds or present a viable model for Viraat’s conversion into a museum. One proposal for grouting the ship inside Mumbai harbour was unacceptable to the authorities. Having burnt its fingers with Vikrant, the Navy obtained orders from the ministry of defence for scrapping of Viraat.

Should we have ship museums at all? They are desirable, not just for preservation of naval history, but also for education of the general public, who have little or no exposure to the Navy. They could even provide a good return on investment if a viable financial model can be found and the location facilitates adequate tourist footfall. Once a ship is decommissioned, the Navy is not permitted to spend any more public money on that vessel. Hence, any entity that embarks on a ship-museum project must take full and immediate responsibility for the vessel from the time of her decommissioning, beginning with immediate towing away from the naval harbour. Ship-to-museum conversion involves significant financial commitment. One estimate of Viraat’s conversion to a museum indicated an approximate investment of Rs 1,000 crore in addition to complex maintenance and substantial running costs. Obviously, it would take years before this kind of money is recovered.

It would help if the ministry of defence gives at least two years’ notice to state governments before a major warship’s decommissioning for them to consider a ship-museum project. This would allow adequate time to find funding partners, identify locations, consult the Navy, port authorities, tourism departments and other regulatory bodies to design a viable project. There are countries that have succeeded in making ship-museums extremely popular and profitable. It can happen in India as well, but if quick profit is the only motive, any future ship-museum project is doomed to fail.