Chennai, Jul 10 (IANS): US Navy Salvor has docked at the Larsen & Toubro’s (L&T) shipyard at Kattupalli here for voyage repairs.

The ship arrived at the shipyard on Sunday.

According to the US Consulate General Chennai, USNS Salvor is the third US Navy ship visiting the L&T shipyard for voyage repairs after USNS Charles Drew and USNS Matthew Perry.

The USNS Salvor, which was welcomed with a ceremony at L&T Shipyard on Monday, was the first ship to arrive after the signing of the landmark five-year Master Ship Repair Agreement (MSRA) between the US Navy and L&T.

US Consul General in Chennai Judith Ravin, US Embassy’s Office of Defense Cooperation chief Capt. Michael L. Farmer, L&T Defense Business Executive Vice President and Head A.T. Ramchandani, senior US Embassy officials, and L&T leadership attended the ceremony.

"This Master Ship Repair Agreement (MSRA) is yet another milestone in our ever-expanding US-India partnership. This historic agreement is a direct outcome of the 2022 US-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue and demonstrates US commitment to utilise repair facilities on a regular basis at the L&T Shipyard in Kattupalli. This agreement will serve to strengthen our two nations’ strategic partnership and contribute to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Consul General Ravin said.

USNS Salvor is one of only two rescue and salvage vessels in the Military Sealift Command (MSC) inventory and the only ship of its kind in the Far East. The ship regularly conducts salvage, diving, towing, offshore firefighting, heavy-lift operations, and theater security cooperation missions.