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India Emerges as Key Maritime Maintenance Hub Amid China Threat: US and UK Warships Dock in Chennai for Swift Repairs

 The West is starting to depend more on India to take care of its warships that go through the Indo-Pacific. Two UK warships came to India for maintenance before going to the region.

US warships are spending less time steaming because it's taking longer and costing more to do maintenance. This is a problem because the US Navy is struggling to keep up with China's growing fleet and dealing with other enemies like Russia at sea.

The US is trying hard to keep up with China's ability to build ships. It's asking its friends Japan and South Korea to help reopen old shipyards. The US Navy is also thinking about using Japan's private shipyards to fix its warships and reduce the backlog of repairs back home. This plan might include South Korea, Singapore, and the Philippines too.

Countries that agree with each other are teaming up to deal with China's growing navy. India, which is near the Malacca Strait, the entry to the South China Sea, will be important for Western countries' operations in the region.

The US and India are working closely together now. The US Navy signed a five-year deal with Larsen and Toubro (L&T) shipyard in Chennai to fix US warships there.

Chennai is a good place to fix ships because L&T shipyard has the right infrastructure, and they know what they're doing. The first US ship to be fixed there was USNS Salvor.

This same shipyard is where two British ships, RFA Argus and RFA Lyme Bay, got maintenance. It's the first time a British ship is being fixed in an Indian shipyard, thanks to an agreement between the UK and India.

After fixing, the ships will join the Indian Navy for a training exercise in the Arabian Sea near Chennai.

The US might help improve infrastructure in India to support its navy in the Indo-Pacific.

The US Navy doesn't have enough money to do all the repairs it needs. A report found that one of its main ships, the Arleigh-Burke class destroyer, had to wait 26 days for maintenance in 2021.

Costs for operating and supporting ships went up by $2.5 billion over 10 years, but the number of hours ships were running or training went down.

Two private companies, General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Company and BAE Systems Ship Repair, do most of the maintenance for American ships. If one of them stopped, the Navy would need time to find someone else to do the work.

US Navy Plans for Quick Ship Maintenance in Asia-Pacific Region

The US Navy wants its ships passing through the area to get quick maintenance, which will help ease the workload on American shipyards that don't have enough workers.

Right now, smaller ships have been getting maintenance, but in the future, they want to include bigger ones like destroyers and amphibious warships. However, nuclear-powered ships like aircraft carriers and submarines are not part of this plan.

Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro talked about how important it is for the US Navy to be able to fix and maintain ships in different places. He mentioned the success of repairing a US Navy ship in India in 2023 and said they're looking at doing similar things in other Asian countries like the Philippines and Singapore.

Some experts in India have suggested using the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as a hub for this. These islands are strategically located at the entrance to the South China Sea, and the US has been using them for refueling its aircraft. Improving the infrastructure there could help the US extend its presence in the Indo-Pacific region.

The support for these operations would include things like food, water, housing, transportation, fuel, medical services, spare parts, training, and other necessary items and services.