Any local authority in which any immovable property in or near a port is vested may, [with the previous sanction, in the case of a containment authority of a major port of the Central Government and in other cases, of the State Government] [Substituted by the A.O. 1937 for "with the previous sanction of the Local Government "], appropriate and either retain and apply, or transfer by way of gift or otherwise, the while or any part of the property as a site for, or for use as, a sailors' home or other institution fir the health, recreation and temporal well-being of sailors.