US Navy Ship Salvor, a Safeguard-class rescue and salvage ship, arrived at Larsen and Toubro’s Kattupalli shipbuilding yard near Chennai for repairs under the Master Ship Repair Agreement (MSRA) signed last month between India and the US, a senior official of L&T said on Monday. The USNS Salvor was welcomed with a ceremony at the shipyard on Monday, and it is the first ship to arrive after the signing of the MSRA.The five-year agreement will see India’s leading private defence company repair the US vessels, said Executive Vice President and Head L&T Defense Arun Ramchandani. This is the third US Navy ship visiting the L&T shipyard for voyage repairs, after USNS Charles Drew and USNS Matthew Perry. After the repair and maintenance are carried out, the vessel will resume its journey after a fortnight. US Consul General in Chennai Judith Ravin and US Embassy New Delhi’s Office of Defence Cooperation chief Captain Michael L Farmer along with Ramchandani were present. “This Master Ship Repair Agreement is yet another milestone in our ever-expanding US-India partnership. This historic agreement is a direct outcome of the 2022 US-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue and demonstrates US’s commitment to utilise repair facilities on a regular basis at the L&T shipyard in Kattupalli,” Ravin said. “During Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the United States, he eloquently said that ‘the scope of our cooperation is endless, and the chemistry of our relations is effortless,’” and added that the announcements made during the PM’s official state visit set a marker and highlighted incredible potential.
The MSRA with L&T is the first such agreement in India, and it “is a symbol of our strengthened US-India partnership…,” Ravin said, adding that the MSRA is a legally non-binding arrangement between the US Navy and private shipbuilding contractors to pre-approve shipyards to repair US Naval vessels. The MSRA will fast-track US government contracting processes for repair work and advance the Indian government’s indigenous production and logistics goals. “We are soon expecting President Biden’s visit to India.
