A six-member all-women crew of the Indian Navy is set to embark on an eight-month voyage in September to circumnavigate the globe, the first such navigational attempt from Asia.
The naval officers led by Lt. Commander Vartika Joshi will set sail in the naval auxiliary vessel INSV Tarini from Goa and are expected to depart early next month.
"We will be passing through some of the roughest patches of sea during the voyage. It will be a tough journey but our spirits are high," Joshi told reporters today.
A native of Rishikesh in Uttarakhand, she will skipper, the 55-feet INSV Tarini, built indigenously and inducted in the Indian Navy earlier in February this year.
Her team members on-board the sister vessel of INSV Mhadei
would be -- Lt. Commander Pratibha Jamwal from Kullu, Himachal Pradesh; Lt. Commander Swathi P from Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh; Lt. Aishwarya Boddapati from Hyderabad; Lt. Shourgrakpam Vijaya Devi from Manipur and Lt. Payal Gupta from Dehradun.
"This all-women circumnavigation attempt would be the first of its kind, not only from India but also Asia. They are well-trained and with their maritime odyssey, they will also set sail into the record books," Naval Chief of Personnel Vice Admiral A K Chawla said.
"They are going to set benchmarks not just for India but for the entire world," he said.
The crew had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday.
Jamwal, who had joined the Naval Academy in 2011, said the voyage is daunting but they are all trained and set for it.
The expedition -- 'Navika Sagar Parikrama' will be covered in five legs, with stopovers at four ports -- Fremantle (Australia), Lyttleton (New Zealand), Port Stanley (Falklands), and Cape Town (South Africa), the Navy said.
Capt. (retd) Dilip Donde, the first Indian to undertake a solo circumnavigation, trained the six naval officers, who he said, volunteered to be a part of the expedition.
"They will be passing through the Southern Ocean, where the temperature could drop to as low as 4-5 degrees Celsius. Besides, they would also have to navigate through gusty winds and high waves," Donde said.
Joshi said they would be stocking up food supplies, water, books and recreational material, mostly dry items as the voyage span is long.
"We will begin with 600 litre of water and we would also have an RO plant on-board. We would carry books and DVDs for recreation," she said.
Asked about the safety measures taken for the crew, Vice Admiral Chawla said, "As per the international maritime convention, the ship's immediate distress call would be picked up by the nearest search and rescue authority, who would then relay it to us. Also, the vessel is equipped with satellite phones and other modern communication gadgets."
Indian Navy's Lt. Cdr. Abhilash Tomy, who became the first Indian to circumnavigate the globe, solo and non-stop over a 150-day voyage in 2013, said, "There is no quit word in maritime circumnavigation."
"I think what these six officers are attempting is very courageous. In an mountain expedition, you can stop and climb back, but once you are in the sea, you are in the sea. Only your faith and courage can help sail you through," he said.
INSV Tarini, having a wood core and fibre glass sandwich structure, was built by a shipyard in Goa and the vessel has sailed approximately 8,000 nautical miles till date, the Navy said.
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