Indian Navy Sailing Vessel (INSV) Tarini, which has an all-women crew of the Indian Navy, is all set to arrive at Goa coast, after a historic circumnavigation of the globe in a span of little over eight months.
INSV Tarini will be reach Goa coast on Monday (May 21), from where had they set sail on September 10, 2017. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, along with the Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba, will be there to receive them.
Though team has already entered the Indian waters, due to slow wind pace in Arabian Sea, their journey is taking more time than anticipated, and they are expected to finish their voyage by the end of this week.
INSV Tarini is led by Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi and the crew comprises Lieutenant Commanders Pratibha Jamwal and Swati P., and Lieutenants Aishwarya Boddapati, S. Vijaya Devi and Payal Gupta. Before starting their voyage, the crew had an interaction with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
During the eight months and 11 days of expedition, they sailed in six legs, with stop-overs at five ports, namely Fremantle (Australia), Lyttelton (New Zealand), Port Stanley (Falklands), Cape Town (South Africa) and Mauritius. INSV Tarini sailed over 21,600Nm, visited five Countries, sailed across four Continents, three Oceans, passed South of three Capes and crossed the Equator twice.
INSV Tarini crossed the Equator twice—on 25 September and 6 May. The crew sailed past the longitude of Cape Leeuwin on November 10—the first of the three 'Great Capes' that are required to be rounded to qualify as a circumnavigation. The sailing vessel crossed the other two Capes namely 'Cape Horn' on 18 Jan and 'Cape of Good Hope' on March 18 and 20, and the International Date Line on December 15.
According to the Navy, the expedition, titled ‘Navika Sagar Parikrama’, was aimed at promoting women empowerment, in line with the government's thrust for ‘Nari Shakti’. It also intended to promote ocean sailing by the Indian Navy, and inspire youth to develop a spirit of adventure. This is the first-ever Indian circumnavigation of the globe by an all-women crew.
Before them, Captain Dilip Donde achieved the solo circumnavigation for India, and Donde had given initial training to the team INSV Tarini.