New Delhi: Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba on Monday welcomed the Indian Navy’s six-member all-women crew who arrived in Panaji after circumnavigating the globe in over eight months on board the naval vessel INSV Tarini.
The expedition, christened ‘Navika Sagar Parikrama’, was flagged off from the INS Mandovi boat pool in Panaji on September 10 last year.
Led by Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi, the crew had Lt Commanders Pratibha Jamwal and Swati P, and Lieutenants Aishwarya Boddapati, S Vijaya Devi and Payal Gupta as other members.
They completed the feat in the 55-foot sailing vessel, INSV Tarini, which was inducted into the Indian Navy on February 18 last year.
The six women officers trained for the project under Captain Dilip Donde, the first Indian to solo-circumnavigate the globe from August 19, 2009 to May 19, 2010 onboard the Indian-built vessel INSV Mhadei, a Navy official said.