Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will launch the Indian Navy’s first Fleet Support Ship, FSS-1, at Hindustan Shipyard Limited in Visakhapatnam on October 6, marking a milestone in India’s indigenous shipbuilding programme.
He will also lay the keel of the fifth Fleet Support Ship, FSS-5, and inaugurate the shipyard’s upgraded Slipway-4 and a 300-tonne Goliath Crane.
The upgraded slipway, with its extended length and enhanced load-bearing capacity, supported by the crane, will enable the shipyard to build and launch vessels of up to 45,000 deadweight tonnes (DWT). The facilities will significantly expand its capacity to construct large and complex platforms.
FSS-1 is the first of five Fleet Support Ships being built for the Navy. It will enter the waters of the Bay of Bengal just 18 months after steel cutting.
The 43,500-tonne vessels are designed to replenish warships at sea, extending the Navy’s endurance and operational reach across the Indian Ocean Region. The keel laying of FSS-5 will mark further progress towards series production under the programme.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Krishna Swaminathan and Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar are among those scheduled to attend the events.
