Two more years will take for the opening of the maritime heritage museum in Chennai. The Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) has taken up the project. The maritime museum is to come up in Mamallapuram. Decommissioned submarine – INS Vagli – will become a part of the heritage museum. The project could be divided into two parts – submarine museum and heritage museum. As Mamallapuram receives a huge number of visitors, they should be allowed to have a look at the submarine museum.    

A tourism official said that as per the original plan, the submarine was to be towed to Mamallapuram from Chennai Port by September next and the museum project was scheduled to be completed in 18 months. But, the project suffered a setback due to the delay in choosing a consultant.    

Even the decommissioned submarine, which arrived from Visakhapatnam on March 25, would be placed on a specially erected platform, abutting the beach near the Mamallapuram shore temple. The proposed museum is  said to be the first-of-its-kind in the country. TTDC obtained clearances from the Tamil Nadu Maritime Board in July and conducted seismic survey and soil test. Now, it has to obtain Coastal Regulatory Zone clearances from various committees in the district and State.    

In three days, the submarine can be towed to Mamallapuram from Chennai Port. Thereafter, it might take about 10 days to move the submarine to the site, which is about 210 metres from the shore. The museum will have facilities such as food courts, an audio-visual studio, souvenir shops and aquarium, official concerned said.