Navy wants pacing up of Sagar port project

To ensure security in the north Bay of Bengal region, the Indian Navy wants the authorities concerned to expedite the Sagar port project in the southern tip of West Bengal. Senior officers from the Navy recently visited Sagar. The Sagar port will be very crucial for the country’s defences, the Navy officials said.

When the Sagar port project come into being it is expected to have a draught of nearly 13.5 metre and naval vessels can use the facility to berth, refuel and turn around without wasting much time. Large warships can’t access the ports of Haldia or Kolkata due to the draught. Even smaller ones dare not enter the navigation channel since all that the enemy needs to do to block it to sink a vessel there.

Any naval vessel will then get stranded for an indefinite period. Even otherwise, an operational naval vessel can’t afford to waste so much time merely to negotiate the channel. The ships have to wait for the tides and require assistance from pilots, said Commodore Ravi Ahluwalia, naval-officer-in-charge, West Bengal.