Jinnah Naval Base
Jinnah Naval Base | |
---|---|
Part of Pakistan Navy | |
Ormara, Balochistan, Pakistan | |
Coordinates | 25°12′04″N 64°40′02″E / 25.20111°N 64.66722°ECoordinates: 25°12′04″N 64°40′02″E / 25.20111°N 64.66722°E |
Type | Naval base |
Site information | |
Owner | Pakistan Navy |
Controlled by | Pakistan Navy |
Jinnah Naval Base is a strategic naval base of the Pakistan Navy located at Ormara, Balochistan, Pakistan. It is named after Pakistan's founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah. It is Pakistan's second largest naval base.[1]
Location
Jinnah Naval Base is situated about 240 km west of Karachi at Ormara in Pakistan's Balochistan province. By land, via the Makran Coastal Highway it is 350 km from Karachi and 285 km from Gwadar.
Construction
Work on selection of the site for the Jinnah Naval Base commenced in 1990. The contract was awarded to Turkish company STFA and Jan De Nul of Belgium for offshore and land development in December 1992. Construction of the Base began in 1994 and the Base was inaugurated on 22 January 2000 by General Pervez Musharraf. The Base was constructed at a cost of Rs. 4.5 billion.
Salient features
Jinnah Naval Base can provide berthing facilities to eight warships and four submarines at a time. This facility can be expanded in future with the expansion of the Base.
Submarine base
In April 2014, Pakistan Navy announced that it is in the process of shifting primary operations and naval assets, including its entire fleet of diesel-electric submarines (SSKs), from Karachi to the Jinnah Naval Base in Ormara.[2]