Reliance Defence To Repair US Navy Warships

Reliance has signed an agreement with the American Navy for repair and alteration services for warships of the largest forward-deployed Seventh Fleet operating in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean. 

The Seventh Fleet has roughly about 50­70 ships and submarines, 140 aircraft and about 20,000 sailors under its command, Tribune India reported today.

Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) controlled RDEL has signed the Master Ship Repair Agreement (MSRA) with US Navy.

In January, Reliance Shipyard was qualified by US Navy as an approved contractor to perform complex repair and alteration services for the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet vessels operating in the region.

Reliance Shipyard at Pipavav, Gujarat, is the first shipyard in India to have received MSRA Certification to undertake servicing and repairing works for the vessels of Seventh Fleet.

It is estimated that the potential business for RDEL will be very high.

The fleet has about 100 vessels of different types, including auxiliaries. Currently, the vessels of US Navy’s Seventh Fleet visit Singapore or Japan for such works.

Reliance Shipyard has been selected after a detailed site survey by US Government representatives in end October 2016.

After over a decade of negotiations, India and the US had in August last year signed the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), a tweaked India-specific version of the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA). This kind of agreement US already has with several countries with close military-to-military ties.

The contract enables their militaries to use each other’s assets and bases for repair and replenishment of supplies, making joint operations more efficient.

LEMOA facilitates the provision of logistical support, supplies and services between the US and Indian militaries on a reimbursable basis and provides a framework to govern them.

This may include food, water, billeting, transportation, petroleum, oils, lubricants, clothing, medical services, spare parts and components, repair and maintenance, training and other logistical services.