In a first, Indian Navy’s all-women team returned to Goa after sailing across the globe for 254 days
The six member crew of the INSV Tarini started their voyage on September 10 from Goa and covered 21,600 nautical miles crossing the Equator twice, and sailing the three Great Capes.
However, the voyage came with its own set of challenges. The crew braved multiple storms at sub zero temperature
Sharing her experience, LT Cdr Swathi P. one of the six crews who was on board said, “we did face one huge storm while in the pacific, which was like a super cyclone on the land. Winds went up to 140 km per hour and the height of the wave was 10 ms, 10ms is like you can see the length from the boat.”
“We were like one person on the wheel continuosly steering the boat and the temperature was in minus degrees. we could not feel our nose, fingers and we had cold burns at that time,” she added.
Defence Minsiter Nirmala Sitharaman welcomed the team along with other navy officers.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi kept a tab on what is going on (with Navika Sagar Parikrama). Occasionally, he also directly spoke to them and kept the nations motivation and interest on,” Sitharaman said after receiving the crew.
She said she felt “honoured” by the achievement of the young women.
The vessel was skippered by Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi, and the crew comprised Lieutenant Commanders Pratibha Jamwal, P Swathi, and Lieutenants S Vijaya Devi, B Aishwarya and Payal Gupta.
The expedition was aimed to raise the visibility of women’s participation under changing environment and help change societal attitudes towards them.
