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Director General Project Seabird

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Director General Project Seabird
Flag of the DG Seabird (Vice Admiral's flag)
since 28 Aug 2024
Indian Navy
AbbreviationDG Seabird
Reports toVice Chief of the Naval Staff
SeatNew Delhi
First holderRear 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.

Background

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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

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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

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Director General Project Seabird[4]
S.No. Name Assumed office Left office Notes
1 Rear Admiral S. K. Chand, AVSM 19 March 1986 18 April 1990 [4]
1 Vice Admiral S. K. Chand, AVSM 18 April 1990 24 August 1991 [4]
2 Rear Admiral P. S. Das, UYSM 24 August 1991 1 October 1992 Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.[4]
3 Rear Admiral V. K. Malhotra, VSM 1 October 1992 31 October 1994 Later Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area
4 Rear Admiral M. Raman 31 October 1994 9 November 1995 [4]
5 Rear Admiral O. P. Bansal 9 November 1995 15 November 1996 Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.[4]
6 Rear Admiral S. V. Gopalachari, AVSM, VSM 15 November 1996 13 October 1997 Later Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff.[5]
7 Rear Admiral Raman Puri, PVSM, AVSM, VSM 13 October 1997 22 April 1998 Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command and Chief of Integrated Defence Staff.[6][4]
7 Vice Admiral Raman Puri, PVSM, AVSM, VSM 22 April 1998 9 March 1999 [6]
8 Rear Admiral S. R. Sampath Gopal, AVSM, NM 9 March 1999 30 April 2003 Earlier Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet.[7][6]
9 Rear Admiral K. Mohanrao 1 May 2003 31 December 2005 [8][9]
10 Commodore P. C. Agrawal 1 January 2006 26 March 2006 [4]
12 Rear Admiral Sanjeev Bhasin, AVSM, VSM 26 March 2006 31 October 2006 Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.[10]
12 Vice Admiral Sanjeev Bhasin, AVSM, VSM 1 November 2006 18 January 2007
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 2021 24 December 2021 Later Commandant of Indian Naval Academy.[19]
21 Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti, VSM 24 December 2021 1 October 2023 Current Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff.[20]
22 Vice Admiral Rajesh Dhankhar, NM 28 August 2024 Present Current DG Project Seabird.[21]

See also

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References

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  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. ^ a b c d e f g h i "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. ^ a b c "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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