Qatar inaugurates its largest coastguard base

Qatar inaugurated on July 14 a new naval base that will function as the headquarters of its coastguard and play a part in Doha's strategic vision of development and security.


Qatar inaugurated on July 14 a new naval base that will function as the headquarters of its coastguard and play a part in Doha's strategic vision of development and security.


Qatar inaugurates its largest coastguard base Qatar's coast guards took part in the inauguration ceremony (Picture source: AFP)


Prime Minister Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani and commander of US Naval Forces in the Middle East Vice Admiral Jim Malloy attended the ceremony at the Al-Daayen naval base in Semaisima, 30 kilometers from Doha on Qatar’s eastern coast. During the ceremony, HE the Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior inaugurated a number of new patrol boats belonging to the Coast Guard and Borders Security. HE also witnessed a performance by the Department’s search and rescue team.

"Through this base, we will now be better equipped to address maritime security, combat illegal immigration, carry out search and rescue, and provide protection to the nation's strategic offshore assets such as oil and gas facilities," General Abdel Aziz Abdullah al Ansari, the head of the Department of International Cooperation at Qatar's Interior Ministry, told Al Jazeera.

"The coastguards operate several stations and substations patrolling the entire Qatar coast and the new base will house their command and control operations as well as training."

The 600,000-plus square-meter site aims to “facilitate the securing of all territorial waters of the State and border posts,” the interior ministry wrote on Twitter. It includes a “sophisticated seaport,” training and medical facilities, civil defense offices and operating rooms, the ministry added.