PM to open BNS Sher-e-Bangla naval base today

The operational activities of country’s largest and first southern naval base, named after BNS Sher-e-Bangla, are set to be inaugurated today, Wednesday (July 12).

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the commissioning of the base by attending the ceremony virtually at noon.

The inauguration of the naval base aimed at ensuring maritime security in the vast area of the southern region and protecting important establishments like Payra Port and Payra Power Plant.

The base contains four patrol craft and four Landing Craft Utility (LCUs), built locally at the Sher-e-Bangla base and Khulna Shipyard Limited. It also has an aviation facility, according to several Navy officials.

The patrol craft are named after Squadron Shaheed Daulat, Shaheed Farid, Shaheed Mohibullah and Shaheed Akhtar Uddin, while the LCUs go by the terms Dolphin, Whale, Tuna and Penguin.

The base also has aviation facilities and a commando handling unit of diving salvage, a Naval School and College, and a 50-bed hospital.

BNS Sher-e-Bangla is going to be the first all-service naval base for the Bangladesh Navy, spanning an area of around 700 acres, at Rabnabad channel of Patuakhali, located beside the port and the power plant. 

It will be the first green naval base beside the Andharmanik River which is very close to the Bay of Bengal.

Maritime experts hope that the base and the ships will play an important role in the prevention of illegal fishing, smuggling, human trafficking, piracy and drug trafficking in the region. They will also play a vital role in combating cyclones and other natural disasters.

On November 20, 2013, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina laid the foundation for the base. On January 2, 2018, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved a project titled “Establishment of BNS Sher-e-Bangla Patuakhali”, worth Tk1,081.50 crore.

Earlier, the prime minister inaugurated the very first submarine base, “BNS Sheikh Hasina”, with modern basin facilities for the Navy at Pekua of Cox’s Bazar on March 20.