HSL-class fleet support ship. The HSL-class fleet support vessels are a series of five fleet tanker planned to be built by Hindustan Shipyard (HSL), Visakhapatnam and Larsen & Toubro at Kattupalli Shipyard for the Indian Navy. The deal was signed on 25 August 2023 with an expected project completion timeline of 8 years. These ships will be an indigenous design by the Hindustan Shipyard's in-house design team. The primary role of the vessels would be to replenish ships of the Indian Navy with fuel, food and various other supplies. With a length of 230 m and displacement of , these will be the heaviest and the second largest vessels to be in operation in the Indian Navy fleets before 2030.

History 
The fleet support ship project was given a go ahead to augment the existing fleet in 2014. Initially, HSL planned to have a design consultancy with Hyundai Heavy Industries. However, the deal fell off due to latter's insistence of manufacturing the first ship in Korea and disagreement in procurement of major components.

TAIS, Turkey emerged as lowest bidder for the project after the negotiations fell between HSL and Hyundai Heavy Industries. TAIS defeated other shipbuilding behemoths from Germany, Russia, Spain. However, the deal got stuck due to Turkey's stance on Jammu and Kashmir. Later, Hindustan Shipyard and Indian Navy signed the contract with TAIS, Turkey. The design consultancy will be provided by Anadolu Shipyard with transfer of technology required for the manufacturing of the ship.

However, after signing the deal on 25 August 2023, it was revealed that the Turkish shipyard was dropped from the deal and now the design and development will be the sole responsibility of Hindustan Shipyard. However HSL is taking the assistance of a Kochi-based firm for design consultancy.

Hindustan Shipyard signed a deal with Kongsberg Maritime under which the latter will supply their electric Replenishment-At-Sea (RAS) equipment for the Fleet Support Ships under construction. This technology is reportedly "faster, safer, and more reliable" for supply operations at sea. The system can transfer over 2 tonnes of solid loads as well as liquids like fuel and drinking water.

Construction

The Government of India cleared the project for a cost of  on 16 August 2023. The final contract for the five fleet support ship with Indian Navy and Hindustan Shipyard was signed on 25 August 2023 for a total value of . The first ship will be delivered in 4 years from the date of signing of the contract and subsequent ships will be delivered at 10 – 12 months interval. The total project completion timeline is 8 years.

On 10 April 2024, the steel cutting ceremony for the first vessel took place in HSL. HSL is installing a new 300T Goliath crane and slipway upgrades for the construction of these vessels. The delivery of the ships will commence from mid-2027.

HSL signed another contract with Larsen & Toubro as a part of which, L&T will manufacture 2 of the Fleet Support Ships at Kattupalli Shipyard under the subsidiary Precision Engineering Systems.

The steel cutting ceremony for the first ship took place on 10 April 2024 at Hindustan Shipyard. The keel for the first ship Yard-11200 was laid on 14 November 2024 at Hindustan Shipyard. 

Steel cutting ceremony for the second ship took place on 11 December 2024 at Kattupalli Shipyard as per the sub contract signed earlier.

Design 
The ships will have a displacement of  and a length of . They will have a cruising speed of  with a maximum speed of  and an operating range of  at a speed of . The ships will be equipped with state of the art refueling facility and a hangar which can accommodate one HAL Dhruv.

These ship will be able to achieve pumping rates up to 2400 TPH. The vessel will also be able to carry ammunition and victualing stores for the fleet. The ship would be equipped with weapons like anti-ship, anti-submarine and CIWS systems.

Ships of the class

Gallery

See also 
 Future of the Indian Navy

References 

Auxiliary replenishment ship classes
Auxiliary ships of the Indian Navy
Proposed ships
Larsen & Toubro