Navigating the World 10th - - Indian Navy’s Six Women Crew Indian Navy’s all-women crew was the first-ever to circumnavigate the globe skippered by Lt. Cdr. Vartika Joshi. The all-women team has also Lt.
Cdr. Pratibh Jamwal, Lt. Cdr. Swathi Patarapalli, Lt.
Aishwarya Boddapati, Lt. Vijaya Devi and Lt. Payal Gupta as its crew members. The crew started their voyage on September from Goa, flagged off by the Defence Minister of India.
It was a historic day, which would be marked in navigation history and globally. It covered the expedition in five legs with stop- overs at four ports (Fremantle, Australia; Lyttleton, New Zealand; Port Stanley, the Falklands and Cape Town, South Africa) for replenishment of ration and repair as necessary, before returning to Goa in April . They went around the globe within -days and reached Goa port on May . The six member women crew broke many stereotypes during their record-setting sail.
An Interview with the crew members India’s all-women navy crew who went around the world in -days have shared their experiences about their great voyage in an interview. Through their personal experiences, we really come to know their hardships and unpredictable challenges they have faced all through their expeditions. Interviewer: How well were you acquainted with the sail boat before you took up the task? Vartika Joshi: None of us was acquainted with a sail boat or ocean-going boat; none of us had sailed before, nor are woman officers allowed entry in combat platforms as yet.
At first, it was difficult to take the boat out to sea, from one point to another. But we slowly built upon it through three years of training. The first Indian solo circumnavigation was undertaken by Capt. Dilip Donde, (Retd.) from August , to May , on board another India-built vessel INSV Mhadei.
The first Indian non-stop solo circumnavigation was undertaken by Cdr. Abhilash Tomy, from November , to March , . 10th - - Interviewer: Can you tell us about the training you had undergone before this