Director General Project Seabird

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Director General Project Seabird
Vice Admiral ensign of Indian Navy.svg
Flag of the DG Seabird (Vice Admiral's flag)
VAdm Rajesh Dhankhar.png
since 28 Aug 2024
Indian Navy
AbbreviationDG Seabird
Reports to Vice Chief of the Naval Staff
Seat New Delhi
First holder Rear Admiral S. K. Chand, AVSM

The Director General of Project Seabird (DG Seabird) is a senior appointment in the Indian Navy with the rank of Vice Admiral. The DG heads the Seabird Project with a charter to oversee the largest defence infrastructure project progressing at the Karwar Naval Base.

Contents

Background

In the early 1980s, then Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Admiral Oscar Stanley Dawson conceived of a naval base sandwiched between the hills of the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea near Karwar in Karnataka state. Located south of the naval bases in Mumbai and Goa and north of Kochi, the location had advantages as being very close to the world's busiest shipping route between the Persian Gulf and east Asia and out of range of most strike aircraft from neighbouring countries. It offered a natural deep-water harbour and significant land area for expansion, allowing larger aircraft carriers to berth. However, due to a variety of reasons, including the 1991 economic crisis, development was delayed. [1]

Project Seabird

In 1999, following Pokhran-II, then Defence Minister George Fernandes approved Project Seabird to pursue the construction of the new naval base at Karwar. Larsen & Toubro was the lead contractor for the marine works on the harbour, in partnership with Hochtief, Ballast Nadem Dredging of the Netherlands, Radisson of Australia and Nedeco of The Netherlands. Over five km (3.1 mi) of breakwater was constructed using over 4.4 million cubic metres of rock to protect the harbour. [2] The Binaga Bay was dredged and its rock outcrops blasted to allow even large aircraft carriers to turn inside the bay. Anjadip Island is one of the two islands to which the breakwaters are linked for reinforcement. A second channel will be added to the base to allow warships to simultaneously enter and exit the port . [3]

List of Directors General

Director General Project Seabird [4]
S.No.NameAssumed officeLeft officeNotes
1 Vice Admiral S. K. Chand, AVSM 19 March 1986 [n 1] 24 August 1991 [4]
2 Rear Admiral P. S. Das, UYSM 24 August 19911 October 1992Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command. [4]
3 Rear Admiral V. K. Malhotra, VSM 1 October 199231 October 1994Later Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area
4 Rear Admiral M. Raman31 October 19949 November 1995 [4]
5 Rear Admiral O. P. Bansal9 November 199515 November 1996Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command. [4]
6 Rear Admiral S. V. Gopalachari, AVSM , VSM 15 November 199613 October 1997Later Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff. [5]
7 Vice Admiral Raman Puri, PVSM , AVSM , VSM 13 October 1997 [n 2] 9 March 1999Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command and Chief of Integrated Defence Staff. [6] [4]
8 Rear Admiral S. R. Sampath Gopal, AVSM , NM 9 March 199930 April 2003Earlier Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet. [7] [6]
9 Rear Admiral K. Mohanrao1 May 200331 December 2005 [8] [9]
10 Commodore P. C. Agrawal1 January 200626 March 2006 [4]
12 Vice Admiral Sanjeev Bhasin, AVSM , VSM 26 March 2006 [n 3] 18 January 2007Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command. [10]
13 Rear Admiral B. R. Rao, NM , VSM Later Chief Hydrographer to Government of India. [11]
14 Rear Admiral A. R. Radhakrishnan [4] [12]
15 Rear Admiral C. S. Murthy, NM [13]
16 Vice Admiral Karambir Singh, AVSM Later Chief of the Naval Staff. [14] [15]
17 Vice Admiral Murlidhar Sadashiv Pawar, AVSM , VSM Later Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff. [16]
18 Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh, AVSM , NM Later Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff. [17]
19 Vice Admiral Srikant, AVSM Earlier Commandant of the National Defence College. [18]
20 Vice Admiral Puneet Kumar Bahl, AVSM , VSM 1 January 202124 December 2021Later Commandant of Indian Naval Academy. [19]
21 Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti, VSM 24 December 20211 October 2023Current Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff. [20]
22 Vice Admiral Rajesh Dhankhar, NM 28 August 2024PresentCurrent DG Project Seabird. [21]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Appointed as rear admiral, promoted to the rank of vice admiral on 18 April 1990.
  2. ↑ Appointed as rear admiral, promoted to the rank of vice admiral on 22 April 1998.
  3. ↑ Appointed as rear admiral, promoted to the rank of vice admiral on 1 November 2006.

References

  1. ↑ Unnithan, Sandeep (20 December 2004). "Power Base". India today. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  2. ↑ "INS Kadamba - Naval Base at Karward". India Defence. 1 June 2005. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  3. ↑ Unnithan, Sandeep (20 December 2004). "Power Base". India today. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "VICE ADMIRAL TARUN SOBTI, VSM ASSUMED CHARGE AS DIRECTOR GENERAL, PROJECT SEABIRD" (Press release). PIN. 2021-12-24.
  5. ↑ "Coast Guard gets new D-G". The Times of India. 21 August 2004. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  6. 1 2 "Vice Adm Raman Puri, PVSM, AVSM, VSM". www.vifindia.org. 2017-01-04. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  7. ↑ "`Seabird' on course". Frontline. 1 January 2004. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  8. ↑ "Seabird set to become operational". tribuneindia. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  9. ↑ "Karwar naval base getting ready to float". The Times of India. 2 April 2005. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  10. ↑ "WESTERN NAVAL COMMAND ACCORDS FAREWELL TO VICE ADMIRAL SANJEEV BHASIN, AVSM VSM ON HIS SUPERANNUATION AND RELINQUISHING COMMAND OF WNC" (PDF). wikimedia.org. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  11. ↑ "Mangalore: Vice Admiral B R Rao Makes His District Proud". www.daijiworld.com. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  12. ↑ "Paradigm Roadmap for a Future Ready Naval Force". www.spsnavalforces.com. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  13. ↑ "Karwar: Rear Admiral C S Murthy, former Director General, Sea Bird assumed command as the Flag Officer Commanding Karnataka Naval Area". The Times of India. 2013-08-11. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  14. ↑ "Admiral Karambir Singh, PVSM, AVSM, ADC Chief of the Naval staff". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  15. ↑ "YAI - YAI Council". www.yai.org.in. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  16. ↑ "Vice Admiral MS Pawar, AVSM, VSM Assumes Charge as Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (DCNS)". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  17. ↑ "Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh AVSM, NM assumes charge as Deputy Chief of Naval Staff". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  18. ↑ "National Defence College". ndc.nic.in. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  19. ↑ "COMMANDANT,VICE ADMIRAL PUNEET K BAHL , AVSM, VSM". 2021-12-27.
  20. ↑ "Rear Adm Tarun Sobti takes over as Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet". pib.gov.in. 23 February 2021.
  21. ↑ "Vice Admiral Rajesh Dhankhar takes over as DG of Project 'Seabird'". The Economic Times. 2024-08-28. ISSN   0013-0389 . Retrieved 2024-08-29.
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