Rajnath calls for strong, integrated maritime system | India News

Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday called for a strong and integrated maritime ecosystem for India to further enhance its maritime power and strengthen the country’s defence capabilities.Addressing the gathering after launched Fleet Support Ship-1, laid the keel for Fleet Support Ship-5 and inaugurated the upgraded Slipway-4 and a 300-tonne Goliath Crane at Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam, Singh said the Indian Navy had repeatedly demonstrated its capabilities in the Indian Ocean Region.“Indian Navy has always been a first responder and preferred security partner in the region. It played an important role in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, anti-piracy operations, evacuation missions and maritime security,” Singh said.He said the launch of Fleet Support Ship-1, keel laying of Fleet Support Ship-5 and inauguration of upgraded infrastructure at HSL marked an important step in strengthening India’s maritime capabilities.He said Fleet Support Ship-1, named “Surya,” would strengthen the Indian Navy’s reach, endurance and operational effectiveness. He said the new slipway and Goliath crane at HSL will further enhance the shipyard’s capacity to undertake large shipbuilding projects.Singh said the Indian Navy, HSL, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), industry, MSMEs and start-ups need to work together as an integrated team to build a strong national maritime ecosystem.He said India had considerable potential to emerge as a major shipbuilding nation but stressed that the country now needed to translate this potential into industrial capability and global competitiveness.“In this direction, we will need to pay special attention to some key areas such as timely delivery, productivity, indigenous design capability, supply chain resilience, skilled manpower, capacity and cost competitiveness,” he added.An official statement said the upgraded Slipway-4, with its extended length and higher load-bearing capacity, along with the Goliath crane, will allow the shipyard to build and launch vessels of up to 45,000 tonnes.The 43,500-tonne vessel is the lead ship in a five-ship series designed to refuel and resupply warships at sea, helping Navy task groups stay deployed longer across the Indian Ocean Region. The keel laying of FSS-5 will mark the programme’s steady march towards series production,” it said.Admiral Krishna Swaminathan, Chief of the Naval Staff, and Sanjeev Kumar, Secretary, Defence Production, were present at the event.