Visakhapatnam: HSL completes refit of Indian Navy's offshore patrol vessel on time

Visakhapatnam: Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) achieved another major milestone after completing the third successive refit on time, an offshore patrol vessel (OPV) of Indian Navy, after undertaking major repair works, giving a new lease of life for the 27-year-old ship.

It is the third major ship's refit in succession that got completed during the Covid pandemic, while the other two include INS Sutlej in early March and Jack-up rig Aban in February. All the three met the timelines taking into account the pandemic and considerable additional work that required to cater to the roles for vintage ships.

Chairman and Managing Director of HSL Cmde Hemant Khatri (Retd) mentioned that the ship repair division of HSL is prepared to handle multiple projects simultaneously both for Indian Navy, Coast Guard, dredgers, offshore platforms and other merchant vessels.

The CMD informed that significant transformation has been achieved in the way the business was done by making considerable changes to procurement manual, working out standard operating procedures to ensure quality and streamline the entire refit process, revised HR manual, digital transformation by usage of ERP system, signing of MoUs and a prompt payment mechanism for jobs completed.