Vice Admiral Rajesh Dhankhar takes over as DG of Project 'Seabird'

Vice Admiral Rajesh Dhankhar on Wednesday assumed duties of the director general of Project ‘Seabird’, with a charter to oversee largest defence infrastructure project currently progressing at the Karwar Naval Base, the Indian Navy said.

He took charge from Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti. The change of guard took place at the headquarters of the project in New Delhi.

The Navy is expanding the crucial and strategically located naval base in Karnataka’s Karwar as part of Project ‘Seabird’.

Dhankhar was commissioned into the Indian Navy on July 1, 1990 and is a specialist in navigation and direction.

“The Flag Officer is an alumnus of the prestigious Naval Academy, Defence Services Staff College, and has undergone the Higher Command Course in Japan. During his illustrious career spanning 34 years, the Flag Officer has tenanted specialist appointments onboard warships Pondicherry, Godavari, Kora and Mysore,” the Navy said in a statement.

The officer has also done instructional tenures in the erstwhile Project 15 Training Team, Navigation & Direction School and at the MIDS Wing Officer’s Cadet School, Singapore.

“His command appointments include Executive Officer onboard INS Delhi, and as Commanding Officer onboard INS Gharial, Mumbai and Vikramaditya. His notable staff appointments include those as Joint Director and Director at Directorate of Naval Plans, Principal Director/ Commodore(Pers) at the Directorate of Personnel,” the statement added.

The Flag Officer is a recipient of the Nao Sena Medal (Gallantry) in 2015 for Non-Combatant Evacuation Operations of Indian nationals from Aden and Al-Hodeida, Yemen, the statement said.

“During his tenure as Fleet Commander, over the past ten months, the Eastern Fleet maintained high level of combat readiness and operational tempo undertaking multiple mission-based and operational deployments, and numerous bilateral and multilateral engagements including ‘Milan 24’ with friendly foreign navies,” it added.