Indian Army's ocean sailing expedition begins return journey

The Indian Army's ocean sailing expedition from Mumbai to Minicoy, the southernmost part of Lakshadweep Islands, is now in its return leg.

Lieutenant Colonel Karunakaran and other sailors had cast off from Kochi on March 31 and are expected to reach Mumbai by April 9 for flagging in.

The expedition was planned by Lieutenant General Micheal Mathew VSM & BAR, Commandant College of Military Engineering, Pune to commemorate the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations of the College of Military Engineering.

The expedition has already covered a distance of approximately 1300 Nautical Miles out of 1800 Nautical Miles successfully on four Seabird Class Sailboats which are open and rudimentary in nature (about 21 feet in length and 7 feet wide). These are 18th-century Scottish design boats meant for harbour sailing and have minimal inboard stocking capacity with no toilets or modern amenities.