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INS KADAMBA

INS Kadamba, located at Binaga Bay near Karwar (midway between Mumbai and Cochin) in Karnataka, is a new naval base which will eventually become the Western Naval Command's Headquarters. The first phase of Project Seabird was completed by mid-2005 and the base was commissioned on 31 May 2005. The project was originally conceived by Admiral Oscar Stanley Dawson (Retd) and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi laid the foundation stone on 24 October 1986. Spread over 11,200 acres (4480 hectares), this is the first operational base with a port controlled exclusively by the Indian Navy, allowing it to strategically operate its naval fleet without worrying about the movement of merchant vessels, which is presently the case with the Mumbai naval base. This new station also enables to relieve congestion at the Mumbai naval base and will have facilities for the berthing & repair of the fleet and other strategic assets. The base is an ideal location for a naval port, as it is sandwiched between the Western Ghats in the east and the Arabian Sea in the west, deep bays which offer natural protection and a strategic depth of nearly half a mile into the sea. The base will allow naval ships to come in, be berthed, ship lifted, dry-docked, repaired and turned around. Providing cover to the bay are the Anjadip, Arge Button and Round Islands. Karwar's hilly terrain provides excellent camouflage to ground installations. And crucially, the extent of land available will not only enable the Navy to disperse its forces, a necessity in times of an attack, but enable any future expansion of the base.

The first phase includes a state-of-the-art ship lift facility - the only one of its kind in India, the construction of harbour and anchorage, a 420 x 185 metre jetty, berthing facilities for around 11 ships, logistics to administer & accommodate over 1000 officers and sailors and their families, and a modern naval ship repair yard. The 10,000 tonne, 175m x 28m ship lift and ship transfer system at Karwar, can lift virtually all of the Indian Navy's naval vessels, excluding large tanker-sized vessels and the aircraft carrier, INS Viraat. A shiplift serves as a large elevator platform which can be lowered into water, have a vessel hauled in and positioned over the cradle/blocks preset on the platform, and lifted vertically to the yard level, so that the vessel can be moved from the platform on to a dry repair berth on land. The ship lift consists of a 2000-tonne steel-lifting platform suspended by 42 wire ropes attached to hoist drums. Distributed in equal numbers on either side of the platform and located on piers, the synchronised and electrical motor-driven hoists lift or lower the platform uniformly and in a horizontal plane. The ship is then moved by a system of trolleys and railings onto the wash-down berth (where it is cleaned), then to the transfer bay and finally onto the dry berth/dock. The ship lift will give the Indian Navy, 625 metres of berthing space and with the usual double and triple banking, up to 10 ships can be berthed at any given time. The first phase can accommodate 11 ships, while the second phase will increase that number to 22 ships. Ultimately the harbour is designed to berth as many as 42 vessels. The depth at the bay will allow large vessels, such as the 44,570-ton INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier, to enter & dock at the harbour.

This state-of-the-art ship lift facility is the first of its kind in South Asia. Seen here is the facility under construction. [Image © Indian Navy]

A new hospital - INHS Patanjali - was commissioned on 26 December 2006 and features ultra modern facilities, with an initial capacity for 141 beds. It is envisaged to increase that to a full-fledged 400-bed Command Hospital in the near future. Sufficient space and facilities have been provided in the hospital complex, spread over a 15 acre area with a floor area of 17,000 square metres. The hospital features an in-patient ward, a state-of-the-art ICU (Intensive Care Unit), operation theatres, a laboratory, radiological diagnostic equipment and high-tech dental equipment. Specialists in all fields of medicine are posted in the hospital along with fully trained paramedics. The special features of the hospital included four operation theatres with steel cladding, epoxy flooring and modern monitors, 100 and 300 mA X-ray facility, colour doppler, neonatal incubators, state-of-the-art physiotherapy equipment and dental chairs with RVG digital radiography systems. Organisations such as like Mecon Limited, the medical division of Larsen & Toubro, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Godrej, Narula Udyog and ABB of India were actively involved in setting up the hospital. The hospital complex also contains an ex-servicemen contributory health scheme polyclinic, which caters to the medical needs of ex-servicemen and their families of the region. INS Kadamba also comprises married accommodation for officers and sailors, shopping complexes, as sailor's institute, schools, family clinics, welfare centres, gardens, parks and other civic amenities. There is also a depot ship, a parade ground, a drill shed, a logistics complex, an officers' mess and an in-living complex for sailors.

A bird's eye view of INS Kadamba. [Image © Indian Navy]

The second phase would include a naval air station with a 6000 foot runway, a naval research institute, a transmitting station and a naval armament yard. The second phase, which was to have taken off in 2005 and completed by 2010, has received a monetary sanction and the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) is likely to release the funds before the end of 2007. The second phase is reportedly going to cost Rs 2500 crore (which is not that far from the cost of the first phase which was Rs 2480 crore) and will feature additional berthing and repair facilities for more naval vessels. Manpower at the base - which is currently at 110 officers and 700 sailors -  is expected to increase to 300 officers and 2500 sailors by the completion of the second phase. The Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Karnataka State Government is in discussions with the Ministry of Defence to extend the runway length from 6000 feet to  10,000 feet to allow civilian commercial flights to operate out of the naval airport. The Airports Authority of India, after inspecting the site, has indicated that 185 acres of additional land would be needed to extend the runway. A third phase is also in the works, but no details have been released by the Indian Navy.