Reliance Defence inks Pact with US Navy to repair warships

BENGALURU: Reliance Defence has announced an agreement with the US Navy for repairs and servicing of warships at the Pipavav shipyard in Gujarat. The agreement will see warships from the US Navy's Seventh Fleet visiting the Indian facility for complex repair and alteration works.

“Reliance Infrastructure (R-Infra) controlled Reliance Defence and Engineering ( RDEL) has signed master ship repair agreement (MSRA) with the US Navy. In January this year, Reliance Shipyard was qualified by the US Navy as an approved contractor to perform complex repair and alternation services for its Seventh Fleet vessels operating in the region,” a press release by the company stated.

Sources said that the business expectations of the Indian company is in excess of Rs 15,000 crore in revenue over the next five years. The Indian shipyard is likely to handle various types of ships — front line warships, supply vessels and patrol vessels — that are part of the Seventh Fleet.

At present the US Navy uses yards in Singapore and Japan for these works. The company expects major work after the signing of the logistics exchange memorandum of agreement (LEMOA) in August last year that enables either side to use facilities for refuelling and replenishment.

Reliance Shipyard says it is the first in the country to receive MSRA certification to undertake servicing and repairing works for the vessels of Seventh Fleet. “Reliance Shipyard has been selected after a detailed site survey by the US government representatives in end October 2016,” the company statement said.