US Naval Ship Charles Drew in India on ‘longest, most complex’ visit  

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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 (Sep 25) and is expected to spend around a month here.

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. 

The MSRA is a legally non-binding arrangement between the US Navy and private shipbuilding contractors to pre-approve shipyards to repair American naval vessels. While it is an enabling agreement, it does not specify or guarantee how many vessels would come for repairs in a said period.

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 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 US 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 the US 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 US government civil service mariners. In addition to US 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 ft long, 106 ft wide and has a displacement of 41,000 tons and can travel at a speed of 20 knots. The ship is manned by a 53-member crew and it can carry over 6,600 tons of dry cargo, over 1,700 tons of refrigerated stores and 18,000 barrels of cargo fuel.