To roll out first vessel in four years

After its plan to tie-up with global shipbuilding giant Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd of South Korea ran into rough weather, Hindustan Shipyard Limited has launched an exercise to scout for collaboration with an internationally-acclaimed firm to design and construct five Fleet Support Ships (FSS) for the Indian Navy at a total estimated cost of ₹9,500 crore.

Highly-placed sources told The Hindu that HSL, a Ministry of Defence Enterprise, rejected the Hyundai’s terms as it wanted the upper hand in construction of five FSS.

Indigenous construction

The MoD has already approved the project to entrust the job of construction of FSS to HSL, a premier shipyard set up in Visakhapatnam in 1941.

When contacted, HSL Chairman and Managing Director Rear Admiral L.V. Sarat Babu confirmed that they had started the process for finalising a world-class collaborator to expedite the construction of FSS.

“As we didn’t agree to the conditions laid down by Hyundai for the joint venture project, now we have issued Request for Proposal (RFP) from global players for collaborating with us to construct all the five vessels indigenously for the first time in our country under Make in India initiative,” he said.

The shipyard will deliver the first FSS in four years from the date of signing the contract and take up construction of other ships simultaneously.