Bahrain: A groundbreaking ceremony was held yesterday for the new British naval base in Bahrain that is expected to open next year.
Named HMS Juffair, the base is a major overseas commitment for the UK, which aims to protect maritime interests and deter looming threats from the conflicts in Yemen, Syria and Iraq.
UK Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond and his Bahraini counterpart Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa attended the ceremony for the new facility at Mina Salman Naval Base.
“There is a dangerous turbulence in the region that needs to be looked at and the situation in Iraq, Syria and Yemen makes it imperative that we commit to Gulf security and that of the wider region,” said Mr Hammond.
“We discussed this project for a new British base a few years ago and that idea was developed last year when I signed an agreement to set up a permanent naval base in Bahrain.”
The UK official said they were working closely with the government of Bahrain to expand a defensive footprint that would span the entire Gulf.
HMS Juffair is expected to accommodate Britain’s new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers and Type 45 destroyers.
It will add to the UK’s already strong defensive presence in the region, with military assets including Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado aircraft, a remotely-piloted air system, Hercules transport aircraft, air-to-air refuelling and surveillance aircraft.
Former British Ambassador Iain Lindsay previously told the GDN that at any one point there are around 1,650 UK military personnel in the Gulf, as well as Type 45 destroyers, Type 23 frigates, four minesweepers, eight Tornado aircraft and three Merlin helicopters.
An estimated £15 million (BD8.6m) will be spent on the new UK base, upgrading the facilities currently used by the four British minehunters working in the Gulf.
Shaikh Khalid said it was yet “another milestone” in Bahrain and the UK’s historic relations.
“HMS Juffair will maintain regional security and deal with new challenges that will allow Bahrain and UK to work together for stability in the GCC,” he said.
“The setting up of this facility will ensure flexibility in our operations to respond to regional threats by protection the waters of the Gulf and ensuring freedom of movement in the Strait of Hormuz.”
Shaikh Khalid said the facility will deal with “aggression of all sorts”, whether from other countries or pirates.
HMS Juffair will be located near the US Fifth Fleet Naval headquarters.
Despite handing over the naval facilities at Juffair to the US Navy in 1971, the Royal Navy has maintained a continuous presence in the Gulf since 1980 and is the second-biggest Western maritime force stationed here after the US.
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