Modi hails all women crew of Tarini vessel

During his fifth consecutive address to the nation from the ramparts of historic Red Fort, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the six women of Indian Navy team who circumnavigated the entire globe in seven months. Prime Minister hailed the achievement of women in various fields and praised the indomitable spirit of  the women naval officers .

“The daughters of our country returned home after spreading the hues of the tri-colour across the oceans of the world, the Prime Minister said from the ramparts of the Red Fort here. The six-member crew, on board the INSV Tarini, spent 194 days at sea as part of a mission that began on September 10 , 2017”, the Prime Minister said.

 “My dear fellow Indians, we are today celebrating Independence Day at a time when our daughters from Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have sailed the seven seas and returned home after splashing the oceans with the hues of the tricolour,” Modi said.

President Ram Nath Kovind has conferred Nao Sena (Gallantary) Medal for the six women crew members of the Indian Naval Sailing Vessel (INSV) Tarini, who circumnavigated the globe, braving treacherous seas and displaying raw courage.

Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi skippered the mission, traversing through the Indian, the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans, along with Lieutenant Commander Pratibha Jamwal and Lieutenant P Swathi, Lieutenant Vijaya Devi, Lt B Aishwarya and Lt Payal Gupta.

The first ever global circumnavigation was titled as 'Navika Sagar Parikrama' was flagged off by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman near the Panaji coast in 2017 - Western Fleet of Indian Navy.               

The mission witnessed several gut-wrenching moments like when the INSV Tarini negotiated the choppy waters off the Cape Horn, often dubbed as 'the graveyard of ships' owing to the dangerous seas conditions in the Pacific Ocean in January, she was overtaken by a cold front with winds gusting up to 130 kilometres per hour.

The turbulent weather caused 10 metre-high waves to come crashing down onto the boat, the Navy had said in a statement.

The expedition was covered in five legs, with stopovers at 4 ports -- Fremantle (Australia), Lyttleton (New Zealand), Port Stanley (Falklands), and Cape Town (South Africa).

Not only just the physical strength but with patience  and strong determination, the all women member crew successfully completed circumnavigation and registered India's name in history. 

Accepting the tough challenge, team Tarini sailed the boat without engine for propulsion and avoided the canal routes.

INSV Tarini is a 55-ft sailing vessel, which has been built indigenously, and inducted in the Indian Navy last year. In his speech, Modi also lauded the triumph of young tribals from India, who have successfully scaled Mount Everest.