Indian Navy officers return after sailing around globe

"The world of the sea is the same planet but a whole different world,” said Lt Cdr Roopa A of the Indian Navy Thursday as she and her partner Lt Cdr Dilna K returned to Goa after successfully circumnavigating the globe in a sailing boat.

- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

The duo, with back-up support from the Navy, covered more than 25,600 nautical miles in 238 days in INSV Tarini, their sailing boat. It was the first circumnavigation of the globe in a sailing vessel by Indian women in “double-handed’ mode, said a Navy spokesperson.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh welcomed the two intrepid women and their vessel upon the completion of the eight-month “Navika Sagar Parikrama II (NSP II)’ expedition at Mormugao Port Authority in Vasco. Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh Tripathi, who had flagged off the expedition on October 2 last year, was also present.

The whole country was proud of the achievement of the two women officers, Singh said.

Women have played a pivotal role in the Indian Defence system since gaining entry, and women officers played an important role in aerial attacks on Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir during Operation Sindoor, he said.