Oldest serving aircraft carrier Viraat to ‘retire’ on March 6

NEW DELHI: INS Viraat — the world’s oldest aircraft carrier in active service — will be decommissioned on March 6 with a ceremonial send-off in Mumbai, informed sources said on Wednesday.
The ship’s name is entered in the Guinness World Records for being the oldest serving warship.
The decommissioning ceremony will be attended, among other dignitaries, by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. The big event will see the lowering and wrap-up of the naval flag installed on the warship at sunset, marking an end to a long sea odyssey lasting 55 years, including 30 years in the Indian Navy. The warship played a major role in Operation Jupiter in 1989, a mission of the Indian Peace Keeping Force operations in Sri Lanka and Operation Vijay in 1999 during the Kargil War.
The ship spent nearly 2,250 days at sea, sailing 5,88,288 transportation miles, thereby implying that Viraat has been at sea for over six years and sailed round the globe regarding twenty seven times.