United States Navy ship Salvor reaches L&T Shipyard in Kattupalli for repairs

Chennai [Tamil Nadu], July 11 : Military Sealift Command's rescue and salvage ship USNS Salvor (T-ARS 52) on Sunday arrived at Larsen & Toubro Ltd, commonly known as L&T Shipyard, in Kattupalli near Chennai for voyage repairs.

USNS Salvor is the third US Navy ship visiting L&T Shipyard for voyage repairs, after USNS Charles Drew and USNS Matthew Perry, according to an official release.

The USNS Salvor, which was welcomed with a ceremony at L&T Shipyard, is the first ship to arrive after the signing of the landmark five-year Master Ship Repair Agreement (MSRA) between the US Navy and L&T.

The ceremony was attended by US Consul General in Chennai Judith Ravin, US Embassy New Delhi's Office of Defense Cooperation Chief Captain Michael L Farmer, L&T Defense Business Executive Vice President and Head A.T. Ramchandani, senior US Embassy officials, and L&T leadership attended the ceremony.

US Consul General in Chennai Judith Ravin said, "This Master Ship Repair Agreement (MSRA) 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 commitment to utilizing repair facilities on a regular basis at the L&T Shipyard in Kattupalli. This agreement will serve to strengthen our two nations' strategic partnership and contribute to a free and open Indo-Pacific."

Judith Ravin said, "This is a very particular time in US-Indian history. We have had Prime Minister Modi come to the United States and we have President Biden coming to India under the G20 and under India's leadership, so we are building on that incredible defence partnership, and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and today is just another example of how emerging technologies AI, innovation, education and entrepreneurship and so on built on that relationship."

US Embassy in New Delhi's Office of Defense Cooperation chief Captain Michael L. Farmer commended Larsen and Toubro on their accomplishment in finalizing the MSRA, and their induction of this third vessel into mid-voyage repair activities, as per the release.

The USNS Salvor is a rescue and salvage ship and is used as a platform to support recovery missions. The ship regularly conducts salvage, diving, towing, offshore firefighting, heavy-lift operations, and theatre security cooperation missions.

The United States government-owned USNS Salvor is one of only two rescue and salvage vessels in the MSC inventory and the only ship of its kind in the Far East.