INS Kadamba
INS Kadamba or Naval Base Karwar is an Indian Navy base located near Karwar in Karnataka. The base, which was commissioned on 31 May 2005, is being developed under the codename, Project Seabird. The Phase I of the project was completed in 2011 while the Phase IIA commenced after 2017 and is underway as of 2025.
On completion of Phase IIA, the base will have a capacity of basing 32 warships besides other auxiliary crafts. The base also has the country's first shiplift and transfer system for docking and undocking ships and submarines. Upon completion of its development following Phase II-B, the naval base will be the largest of its kind in the Eastern Hemisphere with a capacity of 50 warships.
As of 2024, both of the Navy's aircraft carriers and are based here.
History
During the Indo-Pakistan War of 1972, the Indian Navy faced security challenges for its Western Fleet in Mumbai Harbour due to congestion in the shipping lanes from commercial shipping traffic, fishing boats and tourists. At the end of the war, various options were considered on addressing these concerns.Existing naval bases in India naval operations was hindered due to commercial shipping traffic, narrow approach channel, lack of expansion space. Visakhapatnam, the then largest naval base with a capacity of berthing 50 naval ships, did not have 8-9 metre depth required for entry of aircraft carriers like and was also not straight making manoeuvring of longer vessels difficult. Mumbai, on the other hand, had its last expansion in 1980s which included construction of a quay. But further expansions were not possible due to security threats for nearby tall buildings like Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, the Bombay Stock Exchange and Ballard Pier. Its shallow waters also made berthing of soon-to-be acquired difficult. Kochi had no expansion prospect since it was a backwater harbour.
Due to these limitations, a dedicated new base had to be built on the west coast in order to decongest Mumbai. New locations like Thiruvananthapuram, Kannur and Thoothukudi were considered, but Karwar was finally chosen due to its strategic importance. The base was conceived of by the then Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Oscar Stanley Dawson in the early 1980s since it was sandwiched between the craggy 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 significant 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 neighboring countries. It also offered a natural deep-water harbour and significant land area for expansion, allowing larger aircraft carriers to berth. The site was selected after technical and hydrographic surveys by institutes like the National Institute of Hydrology, the Central Water and Power Research Station and the National Institute of Oceanography. The harbour had advantages due to its hilly terrain, acting as a camouflage to ground installations and also as positions for the Navy to disperse its forces in case of an attack, along with its forested terrain, providing cover from surveillance satellites supported by infrared decoys. Other requirements for berthing, navigation of ships and necessary depth were also satisfactory.
Project Seabird
The Project Seabird, an integrated strategic naval base at Karwar, was first sanctioned in 1985, followed by laying of the foundation stone by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in October 1986.As per initial timelines, construction of the project, estimated to cost, was to begin in January 1986 and completed within seven years. However, the project was shelved due to inadequate funds allocations in the defence budget. Attempts to revive the project failed twice, first in 1990 when a detailed project report was drawn up but it stalled due to lack of funds for its phased implementation and again in 1995 when the government said it would be unable to fund the entire Phase I . The Navy was asked to limit the Phase I expenditure to. Hence, the Phase I was again divided into two halves, the first of which was expected to be completed by 2005, while the entire Phase I by 2010.
In 1999, following Pokhran-II, then Defence Minister George Fernandes approved Project Seabird to pursue the construction of the new naval base at Karwar.
Project Seabird commenced in October 1999 with marine works primarily including creation of a tranquil harbour, the dredging of the approach channel and the anchorage area, and the reclamation of of land as well as construction of three breakwaters — a -long northern breakwater, a -long southern breakwater, and another -long spur. The approach channel, would be between the spur and Round Island. The harbour would have a depth ranging from 10 metres to a maximum of 12 metres at the core.
For the project, Radisson and Nedeco were chosen as global consultants for the marine works and Mecon for the onshore works. A joint venture, comprising Hochtief, Ballast Nedam Dredging and Larsen & Toubro won a contract of for marine works. Meanwhile, onshore works, worth were tendered and divided among companies including Larsen & Toubro, Skanska, Bridge & Roof, Nagarjuna Construction Company and Syncrolift. Syncrolift was contracted for the unique Shiplift and Ship Transfer System worth. The system would be capable lifting all Indian Naval Ships except aircraft carriers and replenishment oilers. A cleaning berth and a dry berth were constructed as part of Phase I. The system could also act as a wet berthing station for all classes of naval ships and submarines.
As of 2003, Project Seabird was to be opened for ships in January 2005 and commissioned on 7 May 2005 as INS Kadamba. The project had been again delayed due to a labour dispute that affected offshore works. The first phase would cost. As of then, the northern breakwaters and the spur were completed while the southern breakwater would be complete by March 2004. The anchorage of the port was also expected tp be completed by April 2004 and a maximum depth of 10 metres was already available.
After the completion of Phase I, another phase of the project would be pursued. Under Phase II, additional facilities other than capacity expansion of the base to 50 warships included a research centre, a naval air station, a naval armament depot and a missile technical position around from the base. While long-range maritime patrol aircraft would continue to be stationed at Dabolim and Arakkonam, ship-based helicopter units and Dorniers used for fleet requirements will be stationed at the base. a second approach channel with a depth of 11 metres could also be opened between Arge Island and the mainland.
Phase I expansion
On 31 May 2005, INS Kadamba was commissioned as the third operational naval base and the first dedicated naval base in India. The ceremony was attended by the then Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Six frontline warships including aircraft carrier, destroyers, and frigates, and were docked in the naval base on the day. The project's Phase I, which was not yet complete, had already taken two decades since its inception.Commodore K P Ramachandran was the first to hold the office of Commanding Officer, INS Kadamba. The post would later be upgraded to Flag Officer Commanding tasked by the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.
As of then, the Navy planned to relocate at least 10 capital ships from Mumbai to Karwar including a few missile destroyers, frigates, and corvettes, auxiliary ships and offshore patrol vessels. The Scorpène-class submarines was also planned to be based here in future.
Phase-I was completed at a total cost of in 2011.
The facilities that were developed under the first phase included:
- The naval base occupies an area of and is spread across a -long coastline along the Arabian Sea.
- A jetty with a capacity of hosting up to 11 frontline warships and 10 yardcrafts.
- Naval Ship Repair Yard : A 10,000 tonne capacity shiplift with a ship transfer system for dry docking any ship of its fleet except replenishment oilers and aircraft carriers. The yard commenced functioning in July 2006 and the ship-lift was commissioned on 8 November 2006.
- INHS Patanjali: A 141-bed naval hospital.
- Residential accommodation of 43 officers and 200 sailors.
Phase II expansion
As of 2011, the defence ministry was preparing a 'note' for approval by the government after fine-tuning the detailed project review after multiple delays. The delays were attributed to unavailability of eligible Indian companies who would be able to handle such infrastructure projects. There were additional objections from the Finance Ministry about the estimated cost of the project as presented by the Navy. The approval from the Defence Ministry was granted in May 2012. The base would have the capacity of 32 warships and other ships including 10 of the fast-interceptor craft of the Sagar Prahari Bal. The proposal was then forwarded to the Cabinet Committee on Security headed by the then Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh. The Phase-IIA expansion was approved by the CCS on 6 December 2012. The project was worth. The project was planned to be completed by 2017–18. The base would also host and Scorpène-class submarines.The environment clearance for Phase II was granted in June 2014 on a priority basis for strategic reasons by the environment minister.
Phase II-A
As of December 2015, the Indian Navy had acquired 11,334 acres of land from the State Government, which included 8,661 acres of forest land. The development of Phase IIA was expected to start from 2016.By 2016, the commencement of Phase II-A was delayed by a year to 2017 and end in 2021–2022 with an estimated cost of. The project is expected to generate large scale employment and infuse money into the local economy. In this phase, the base will undergo the following upgrades:
- The base will be able to host 32 ships and submarines along with 23 yardcraft. The upgrade will provide berthing space of over 6 km. Apart from berthing, two more aircraft carriers will be homeported here. For this, two more jetties will be used. A few of the submarines will also be based here.
- There will be four Covered Dry Berths, each with a height of and a total area of, with the capability of simultaneously docking of up to four capital ships.
- Eight operational jetties, two refit jetties, four Covered Dry Berths and a full-fledged Naval Dockyard to handle additional ships
- Four residential townships to accommodate 10,000 officers, sailors and defence civilian staff. The townships are situated in the east of Manzil Creek and Amadalli and includes 2,160 and 3,168 accommodation units for senior sailors and defence civilians, respectively. A Hyderabad-based company, NCC Ltd, has been contracted for its construction.
- Naval Air Station with runway for helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles and medium transport aircraft with a civilian enclave
- INHS Patanjali will be upgraded from 141-bed to 400-bed hospital. After completion of this phase, the base will have over one lakh personnel working there, apart from their families living in an upcoming residential township.