After what must have been a grueling 8 months at sea, the women voyagers of INSV-Tarini finally return to Goa’s shores. The 6 all-women crew, of the Goa-built yatch, have made maritime history with their round-the-world voyage. All 6 are officers in the Indian Navy.
Women voyagers sail back into Goa
INSV-Tarini is named after one of Goa’s ancient boat goddesses. She is a 56-foot sailing yacht that was built to withstand the stormy seas. This expedition took on by the 6 women voyagers was titled, ‘Navika Sagar Parikrama’ and was created to showcase ‘Nari Shakti’ on the world platform. The aim was to ‘empower women to attain their full potential’.
The yacht, built by Divar-based Aquarius Shipyard Pvt Ltd, was flagged off from INS Mandovi, its home base in Goa, on September 11 by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The crew was led by Lt Commander Vartika Joshi and comprises Lt Commander Pratibha Jamwal, Lt Commander P Swati, Lt Vijaya Devi, Lt B Aishwarya, and Lt Payal Gupta.
Since then, on their journey around the world, the women voyagers have called at four ports. Fremantle in Australia, Lyttelton in New Zeland, Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands, and Cape Town in South Africa.
The journey was a hard one fraught with rough seas, high stormy conditions, and severely cold temperatures. It made the expedition an extremely challenging one for the all-women crew of the INSV-Tarini who are said to have faced strong winds of 60 knots and high waves of up to 7 meters. However, they still managed to make it a success by collecting all kinds of meteorological, ocean, wave, and marine pollution data.
Welcome home INSV Tarini
“Welcome Home Tarini. INSV Tarini is returning back to Goa, India, after her historic circumnavigation of the globe! I and chief of naval staff Admiral Sunil Lanba will welcome them,” Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.
The vessel would have reached Goa by now, amidst much cheering and welcoming smiles from all gathered at the INS Mandovi boat pool in Verem.
Information credit – TOI
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