Indian Navy Commissions 8th Missile Cum Ammunition Barge, LSAM 11 (Yard 79).
Science and Technology
On February 14, 2025, the Indian Navy (IN) successfully launched its 8th Missile Cum Ammunition (MCA) Barge, Large Scale Additive Manufacturing (LSAM 11) (Yard 79) at Mira Bhayandar, Maharashtra. The launch took place at the facility of M/s SECON Engineering Projects Private Limited (SEEPL), a Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh (AP)-based company.
- The launch ceremony was attended by Commodore N. Gopinath, Assistant Chief of Materiel (Planning), Naval Dockyard (ND), Mumbai, Maharashtra.
- The contract for constructing this 8th MCA Barge was signed on February 19, 2021, with the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Shipyard, M/s SECON Engineering Projects Private Limited.
- The barge has been indigenously designed and built in collaboration with an Indian ship design firm and the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS).
Main Point :- (i) Model testing was conducted at the Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL), Visakhapatnam (AP), to ensure seaworthiness.
(ii) The MCA Barges play a crucial role in the IN's operational capabilities, assisting in the transportation, embarkation, and disembarkation of ammunition and materials to naval platforms, both at jetties and outer harbors.
(iii) These MCA Barges align with the Government of India’s (GoI) ‘Make in India’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ initiatives, reinforcing India's self-reliance in defense manufacturing.
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