INS Jarawa

INS Jarawa is the Indian Navy's shore establishment at Sri Vijaya Puram in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, operating under the tri-service Andaman and Nicobar Command. The base directs naval operations across the island chain in the eastern Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea.

As the principal naval station of the archipelago, Jarawa provides basing, logistic and maintenance support to units assigned to the Andaman and Nicobar Command. It has homeported amphibious warfare ships since the commissioning of INS Magar and supports the smaller patrol and defence craft deployed among the islands.

Facilities include a naval wharf, ship repair works commissioned in 1979, and a floating dock of the Indian Navy, FDN-1, of nearly 40,000 tonnes displacement, used to dock vessels of the command locally rather than returning them to mainland yards. The naval air station INS Utkrosh is adjacent to the base, and the naval hospital INHS Dhanvantari is located on it. The INS Jarawa Band, raised in 1985, is attached to the establishment and performs at Republic Day and Independence Day parades and during warship visits.

Naval development of the islands began in November 1962, when the Navy was made responsible for their defence; the first garrison of five officers and 156 sailors arrived at Sri Vijaya Puram, then Port Blair, in mid-1963, and a maintenance and repair facility was raised for the Seaward Defence Boats deployed there. INS Jarawa was commissioned in 1964 to oversee all naval operations in the islands and is named for the Jarawa people of the Andamans. Construction of the wharf began in 1968, and comprehensive repair facilities followed in 1979.