{"id":1491,"date":"2026-10-06T09:39:57","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T09:39:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tamilnadutribune.in\/?p=1491"},"modified":"2026-10-06T09:39:59","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T09:39:59","slug":"defence-minister-rajnath-singh-launches-first-fleet-support-ship-unveils-new-hsl-infrastructure-in-visakhapatnam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tamilnadutribune.in\/?p=1491","title":{"rendered":"Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Launches First Fleet Support Ship, Unveils New HSL Infrastructure in Visakhapatnam"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched the first<strong> Fleet Support Ship (FSS-1)<\/strong> at Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) in Visakhapatnam on October 6,2026, laid the keel for the fifth ship in the series (FSS-1), and inaugurated the upgraded Slipway-4 and a 300-tonne Goliath crane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These developments are expected to enhance HSL&#8217;s capacity to build larger and more complex vessels and strengthen India&#8217;s indigenous shipbuilding capabilities. Singh stated that the launch of FSS-1 is an achievement, the keel-laying of FSS-5 reflects resolve, while the upgraded slipway demonstrates the shipyard&#8217;s growing capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">HSL has indigenously designed and built the first Fleet Support Ship, named <strong>\u2018Surya\u2019.<\/strong> These ships will provide fuel, essential supplies, and logistical support during extended naval operations at sea. They will feature enhanced cargo capacity, first-line maintenance facilities, a helicopter deck, and self-defense systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">HSL Expands Capacity to Build Larger Ships<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The upgraded Slipway-4 has been extended and strengthened to enable HSL to build and launch vessels of up to <strong>45,000 deadweight tonnes (DWT)<\/strong>. The new<strong> 300-tonne Goliath Crane<\/strong>, spanning Slipways 3 and 4, has been developed under the Make in India initiative. It is equipped with advanced control, lifting, and monitoring systems to facilitate the handling of heavy ship blocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Singh asked HSL to move beyond mere self-reliance and strive to become globally competitive, placing greater emphasis on quality, cost-efficiency, technology, timely delivery, and reliability. He stressed the need to develop Visakhapatnam as a major maritime industrial hub by leveraging the Eastern Naval Command, Naval Dockyard, HSL and Visakhapatnam Port, with greater participation from Andhra Pradesh\u2019s MSMEs, universities, technology firms and startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Defence Minister emphasized the need for enhanced collaboration among the Navy, shipyards, DRDO, academia, industry, MSMEs, and startups to boost India&#8217;s maritime capabilities. He also highlighted the necessity of developing indigenous design capabilities, robust supply chains, skilled manpower and lifecycle maintenance capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">HSL, under the Ministry of Defence, was granted Miniratna Category-I status in 2025. Singh also recalled the launch of Jala Usha in Visakhapatnam in 1948, noting HSL\u2019s long-standing contribution to India\u2019s maritime and defence capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(PIB)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched the first Fleet Support Ship (FSS-1) at Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) in Visakhapatnam on October 6,2026, laid the keel for the fifth ship in the series (FSS-1), and inaugurated the upgraded Slipway-4 and a 300-tonne Goliath crane. These developments are expected to enhance HSL&#8217;s capacity to build larger and more [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":1492,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[294],"class_list":["post-1491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-rajnathsingh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tamilnadutribune.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tamilnadutribune.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tamilnadutribune.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tamilnadutribune.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tamilnadutribune.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1491"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tamilnadutribune.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1493,"href":"https:\/\/www.tamilnadutribune.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1491\/revisions\/1493"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tamilnadutribune.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tamilnadutribune.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tamilnadutribune.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tamilnadutribune.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}