Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched the Indian Navy’s first Fleet Support Ship, FSS-1, at Hindustan Shipyard in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday. He also laid the keel of the fifth ship in the series, FSS-5.

The 43,500-tonne vessel is the first of five replenishment ships being built for the Navy. Built with 82 per cent Indian content, it will enter the Bay of Bengal just 18 months after steel cutting.

The ships are designed to refuel and resupply warships at sea. This extends the endurance and reach of naval task forces across the Indian Ocean Region during long deployments.

Singh also inaugurated the upgraded Slipway-4 and a 300-tonne Goliath Crane at the yard. The new infrastructure lets the shipyard build and launch vessels of up to 45,000 deadweight tonnes.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Navy Chief Admiral Krishna Swaminathan and Defence Production Secretary Sanjeev Kumar attended the ceremony. The keel-laying of FSS-5 signals the programme’s move toward series production.