INDIA: A six-member crew of INSV Tarini, including two women officers, who will be returning home after successfully completing a 17000-nm trans-ocean inter-continental voyage in seven months, will be reaching Goa on May 23, Tuesday.
They will be received at the “flag-in” ceremony at the Indian Naval Watermanship Training Centre (INWTC), INS Mandovi, Goa. The occasion will be graced by the Guest of Honour, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani, and Goa Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant, who will be the Chief Guest.
The Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral R. Hari Kumar, and Rani Rampal, ex-captain of the Indian Women Hockey Team, will also be present on the occasion, an official statement read.
The flag at the event will showcase the exemplary valour, courage, and perseverance of the crew, especially the two women officers, Lt. Cdr. Dilna K. and Lt. Cdr. Roopa A., who participated in the entire expedition. They undertook the voyage from Goa to Rio de Janeiro via Cape Town and back, spanning over 188 days of sailing on the vessel.
The other participants included the onward leg crew from Goa to Rio-de-Janerio, comprising Capt. Atool Sinha, Lt. Cdr. Ashutosh Sharma, and Lt. Aviral Keshav, and the return leg crew, comprising Cdr. Nikhil Hegde, Cdr. MA Zulfikar, Cdr. Divya Purohit, and Cdr. AC Doke.
The “Navika Sagar Parikrama” by six women naval officers increased the popularity of ocean sailing within the navy and the country.
The current sailing expedition of INSV Tarini is part of the buildup towards the Navy’s next big project to send a woman to circumnavigate the globe, Solo.
The officers who participated in this expedition were shortlisted from volunteers after rigorous selection at the Ocean Sailing Node (OSN), which was established on August 24, 2016 with the aim of promoting and undertaking ocean sailing activities and is located at INS Mandovi. This expedition was conducted under the aegis of the Indian Naval Sailing Association (INSA), based in New Delhi.
The Indian Navy has embarked on a mission to circumnavigate the globe to promote ocean sailing in a big way. Captain Dilip Donde was the first Indian to circumnavigate the globe in 2009–2010. He became the first Indian and 190th human to complete a solo, unassisted circumnavigation of the globe under sail.
During the nine-month-long circumnavigation, he stopped at four ports and was at sea for 157 days. Subsequently, Cdr. Abhilash Tomy was the first Asian skipper to participate in two circumnavigations.
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