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For the second time in two years, American Naval ship Charles Drew is undergoing repairs at the Larsen and Toubro (L&T) shipyard at Kattupalli, near the southern Indian metropolis of Chennai. The vessel sailed in on Wednesday and is expected to spend a few weeks at the shipyard.
USNS Charles Drew was the first American ship to undergo voyage repairs (short-term repairs that last a few weeks) at an Indian shipyard, and was followed by USNS Matthew Perry and USNS Salvor. While all these ships are US Naval vessels, they are not warfighting or weapons delivery platforms, they only perform combat support roles such as logistics, replenishment of supplies, firefighting, salvaging, towing, etc.
US Navy Ship Charles Drew is back in #Chennai, is undergoing repairs at L&T Kattupalli, is the 4th #USA ship to do so
The 689ft long, 106ft wide ship, with displacement of 41,000tons (~INS Vikrant), manned by a 53-member crew, supplies spares, fuel, food, ammo to #USNavy ships pic.twitter.com/3vgpffBLrs
— Sidharth.M.P (@sdhrthmp) September 26, 2024
Last year, the US Navy inked a five-year Master Shipyard Repair Agreement (MSRA) with Larsen & Toubro shipyard in Kattupalli. This marked the US Navy’s first such agreement in India, indicating the growing US-India partnership. In July 2023, USNS Salvor sailed into Kattupalli to undergo a mid-voyage repair under this agreement and was the first vessel to do so after the MSRA was inked.
The MSRA is a legally non-binding arrangement between the US Navy and private shipbuilding contractors to pre-approve shipyards to repair US Naval vessels. MSRA allows the repair and refit of US Navy warships here, but there are no plans to conduct repairs of US Navy warships at this Indian facility, an official from the US Embassy, New Delhi, had earlier told WION.
The official had emphasised that MSRA was not about offering bases for US Navy ships in India. “This is just an enabling agreement, which allows a company (in this case, L&T) access to the US Navy’s contracting system to bid on projects that are available. This is in no way a basing agreement,” he had told WION.
About USNS Charles Drew
The vessel is known as United States’ Military Sealift Command’s Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship USNS Charles Drew. The Charles Drew is a cargo-carrier vessel that provides critical support to the U.S. Navy fleet operating in the Indo-Pacific Region.
The ships of MSC’s CLF (Military Sealift Command Combat Logistics Force) are the supply lines to U.S. Navy ships at sea. These ships provide virtually everything US Navy ships need, including fuel, food, fleet ordnance and dry cargo, spare parts, mail, and other supplies.
All CLF ships are government-owned and operated by U.S. Government civil service mariners. In addition to U.S. Navy ships, Military Sealift Command’s Combat Logistics Force also resupplies international partners and allies operating in the Indo-Pacific Region. CLF ships enable the US Navy fleet to remain at sea and combat-ready for extended periods of time.
The USNS Charles Drew is 689 feet long, 106 feet wide, has a displacement of 41,000 tonnes, and can travel at a speed of 20 knots. The ship manned by a 53-member crew can carry over 6,600 tonnes of dry cargo, over 1,700 tonnes of refrigerated stores, and 18,000 barrels of cargo fuel.
Sidharth MP
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