"Daring To Dream Big": The Successful All-Women Crew Of Tarini Returns

Goa: Around the world in 254 days - the six-member all-women crew has done it! The team of six naval officers on board INSV Tarini has landed at Mandovi in Goa. This is the first ever circumnavigation of the globe by an all-women Indian crew. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman welcomed the team along with other navy officers. In a tweet earlier, Ms Sitharaman said she was "honoured" to welcome the Tarini team home.

#WelcomeHomeTarini Salute to skipper Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi and her crew - Lieutenant Commanders Pratibha Jamwal, Swati P and Lieutenants Aishwarya Boddapati, S Vijaya Devi and Payal Gupta on their return from expedition - Navika Sagar Parikrama on 21 May 2018. pic.twitter.com/0Qon0ODE4G

— Defence Spokesperson (@SpokespersonMoD) May 21, 2018

The expedition named 'Navika Sagar Parikrama' started on September 10, 2017, with Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi leading her team of five naval officers including Pratibha Jamwal, Aishwarya Boddapati, Patarapalli Swathi, Vijaya Devi and Payal Gupta.

"It is a staggering achievement at many levels...for all those involved...daring to dream big," tweeted the navy this morning.

#NavikaSagarParikrama It is a staggering achievement at many levels - for the @indiannavy that conceived & steered the initiative, for Indian women who just broke one more glass ceiling, for all those involved with the odyssey for daring to dream big 2/n pic.twitter.com/UoAuII0QxZ

— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) May 21, 2018

The expedition was originally scheduled to return last month after stopovers at four ports, but it was delayed because the steering gear was damaged. The team was forced to take a fifth, unscheduled stop at Port Louis in Mauritius for repairs.

The indigenously built Indian Naval Sailing Vessel (INSV) Tarini covered 21,600 nautical miles and crossed the Equator twice, sailing the three Great Capes - Leeuwin, Horn and Good Hope.

On October 23, the tiny sailboat docked in Fremantle Port in Australia. Nearly a month later it reached New Zealand's Lyttelton port. On November 19, Tarini successfully crossed the notoriously rough Drake Passage, as they rounded the Cape Horn off the Southern tip of South America and raced towards Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands. In the last leg of their journey, they set sail from Cape of Good Hope on March 15, for Goa. 

Lieutenant Commander Swathi who was the navigation officer of Tarini described the "multiple storms" they faced at "subzero temperatures in the South Pacific."  

Lt Cdr Swathi. P, Navigation officer of INSV Tarini talks about their most challenging part of the voyage and how they successfully reached Falkland Islands from New Zealand after facing multiple storms in the South Pacific at subzero temperatures.#WelcomeHomeTarini@nsitharaman pic.twitter.com/ePIyfZj6EU

— Raksha Mantri (@DefenceMinIndia) May 21, 2018

Before Tarini's voyage, Indians have successfully completed two similar exercises. The first solo circumnavigation was undertaken by Commander Dilip Donde, SC (Retd) from August 19, 2009 to May 19, 2010 on board another indigenously-built vessel INSV Mhadei. It was later used by Lt Commander Abhilash Tomy for his own single-handed, unassisted, non-stop circumnavigation from November 1, 2012 to March 31, 2013.