Kuwait to set up naval base within five years

Manama: Kuwait is planning to set up a naval base within five years, the Commander of the Kuwaiti Navy has said.

The new base would be built on Failaka, an island about 20 kilometres off the coast of Kuwait City in the Arabian Gulf, Major-General Khalid Al Kandari said.

The base will be part of a series of measures to bolster the capabilities of the Kuwaiti navy and to empower it to better protect the borders of the northern Arabian Gulf state, he added in remarks published by Kuwaiti daily Al Rai on Monday.

The navy is also planning to set up a navy academy for Kuwaiti officers.

The new maritime force will be recruited in the Kuwaiti army and in the Ministry of Interior’s Coastal Guards, Al Kandari said.

Students dispatched by allied and sisterly countries will be allowed to enrol at the academy.

Students will spend four years at the academy and graduates will be given internationally-recognised certificates upon their graduation.

According to Al Kandari, the college, in line with the directives of the defence minister and the chief of staff, will be the ground that officers need to receive proper training and subsequently serve the maritime sectors in the country.

It will also help elevate the standards of the Kuwaiti army and navy while it reduces the costs of learning and training the state is currently spending on trainees in foreign academies and colleges, he added.