Ahmedabad: INSV Tarini, the newly commissioned sailing vessel of the Indian Navy which has been chosen to go on the first ever around the globe trip (circumnavigation) in August this year under an all women Indian crew team, arrived at Porbandar harbour of Gujarat this morning.

Defence spokesperson Wing Commander Abhishek Matiman said that the sailing vessel was commissioned into service on February 18 this year post successful completion of her sea trials on January 30. INSV Tarini is very similar to her illustrious predecessor, INSV Mhadei, which has sailed over 115,000 Nautical Miles in the past eight years. INSV Mhadei is known for her legendary voyages like the first Indian solo circumnavigation undertaken by Captain Dilip Donde (Retired) in 2009 and the first solo, non-stop and unassisted circumnavigation by Commander Abhilash Tomy in 2013.

INSV Tarini was built at the Aquarius Shipyard in Divar, Goa. Inspired by Orissa’s renowned Tara-Tarini temple the vessel was christened INSV Tarini. The word Tarini means boat in Sanskrit; Tara -Tarini is a patron goddess for sailors and merchants, and she is often worshipped before a journey on sea. Tarini’s hull is built of wood-core and fibre-glass sandwich. The boat has six sails, including main sail, Genoa, stay, downwind and storm sail. She is capable of sailing in extreme weather and sea conditions. The boat is 56 feet in length and her mast is about 25 metres in height, the Defense spokesperson said.

To promote ocean sailing and to encourage women empowerment, the Indian Navy conceptualized the idea of the First Indian All Women Circumnavigation of the Globe and INSV Tarini was chosen as the sailing vessel for this purpose. Tarini is sailed by an all-women crew of six officers of the Indian Navy led by Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi. The rest of the crew comprises of Lieutenant Commander Pratibha Jamwal, Lieutenant Aishwarya Boddapati, Lieutenant Patarapalli Swathi, Lieutenant Shougrakpam Vijaya Devi and Lieutenant Payal Gupta. This crew of INSV Tarini has been trained in sailing, navigation, seamanship, communication and meteorology. The crew has logged over 10,000 Nautical Miles on INSV Mhadei, including a voyage from India to Mauritius and back and another from Goa to Cape Town sailing through rough monsoon seas and strong wind. INSV Tarini sailed from Goa on March 28 and arrived at Porbandar harbor during early morning hours today.The crew is practicing sailing this vessel in the Indian waters to get familiar with her peculiarities and sailing behavior in different weather and sea conditions prior to proceeding on the First Indian All Women Circumnavigation of the Globe in August 2017.

The Indian Navy has launched four sailing vessels so far, capable of open ocean deployments —Tarangini, Sudarshini, Mhadei and Tarini. The Navy also plans to add four 40-feet open ocean racing sailboats to its fleet of open ocean sailing vessels in near future, Wing Commander Matiman said.

DeshGujarat

🗃️ This story is from our archives and may contain outdated information.