A hovercraft base of the Puducherry Coast Guard will be coming up on six acres of land provided by the Puducherry Government near the New Lighthouse, said S P Sharma, Regional Commander of Coast Guard, Eastern Region.
Speaking on the sidelines of a wellness programme for Coast Guard personnel at JIPMER on Monday, he said that the Coast Guard was in discussion with the Ennore Port for berthing space for vessels, as Ennore Port would be the new developer of the Puducherry Port.
Currently, vessels cannot be docked as there was no sufficient depth in the port due to silting, he said.
The Coast Guard’s air station would come up on 35 acres of land provided by the Puducherry Government close to the airport, in a span of two years.
The Ministry of Defence had sanctioned Rs 64 crore for the land and after transfer of the fund, the land would be handed over to the Coast Guard by the Puducherry government.
Besides, a hangar for the Coast Guard would be established on a 8,238 square-metre space at the airport leased out to the CG, Sharma said.
Also, a new air station of the Coast Guard with two hangars at Meenambakkam in Chennai, would be commissioned in December.
“The Coast Guard will soon be tying up with the Karaikal (private) port authorities for getting a dedicated berthing space of 75 metres for docking of two ships. This will be the first vessel base in Karaikal Coast Guard Station.
An MoU will be signed shortly for leasing out the space, which can accommodate two fast vessel ships,” said Sharma.
He also said that the Indian Coast Guard was in the process of acquiring 100 new vessels which were now in various stages of construction at various shipyards.
Sharma said that two vessels under construction at Garden Reach in Kolkata and Cochin Shipyard would arrive at Kakinada and Tuticorin shortly.