Navika Sagar Parikrama
Navika Sagar Parikrama is the name of expedition for circumnavigation of the globe on INSV Tarini by Indian Navy's Women Naval Officers. The six-member all-woman team circumnavigated and managed the whole operation in their first ever global journey. The voyage lasted 254 days and finished on 21 May 2018 when the crew returned to Goa, with only 4 port calls in Fremantle Australia; Lyttelton, New Zealand; Port Stanley, Falklands; and Cape Town, South Africa and a forced technical halt at Port Louis, Mauritius crossing the equator twice and 3 ocean. Before starting their voyage the crew also met up with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The boat sailed in after travelling 21,600 nautical miles on Monday, 21 May 2018 at INS Mandovi, Goa. The voyage was showcased in a documentary 'Tarini', jointly made by National Geographic and Indian Navy. It premiered at an event at Lady Shri Ram College on March 8 to mark International Women's Day and received a standing ovation. The voyage prompted National Geographic to start the 'Girls Who Sailed' campaign, which was meant to tell tales of grit and determination, and woman could log on to the NatGeo India website to tell their stories.
Significance
The significance of Navika Sagar Parikrama voyage is in with consonance with National policy to women empowerment to attain their full potential, showcase India’s Nari Shakti on world platform and help revolutionise attitudes and mindset towards women by raising the visibility of their participation in challenging environment. The voyage also aims to showcase the Make in India initiative of the government by sailing on board an Indian built INSV Tarini. It also encourage use of environment friendly non conventional renewable energy; as the ship harnesses wind. The crew will also monitor and report marine pollution levels. Apart from that the crew is also expected to interact with local people of Indian origin as well as collate and update Meteorological/Ocean Wave data on daily basis for analysis by research and development organisations and India Meteorological Department for a better forecast the weather.Training
Prior to the circumnavigation, the crew trained for nearly three years which included theoretical training at various Indian Naval schools in Mumbai and Kerala. Followed by hands on training on INSV Mhadei and INSV Tarini. The crew trained under India's first solo circumnavigator Captain Dilip Donde. The training under him was conducted in a phased and a systematic manner wherein the team undertook various sailings from Vishakhapatnam to Goa via Chennai, Kochi and Karwar, Mauritius in 2016 and 2017, and a 43-day voyage from Goa to Cape Town in 2016. Two of the Navika Sagar Parikrama team also participated in the Cape to Rio Race 2017 onboard INSV Mhadei skippered by Captain Atool Sinha, from Cape Town who led a mixed crew of men and women into the race. Team Tarini sailed for 22,000 nautical miles on board INSV Mhadei and INSV Tarini as part of their training.Nari Shakti Puraskar
On occasion of International Women's Day on 8 March 2018 the crew of INSV Tarini that is part of Navika Sagar Parikrama namely Lt Cdr Vartika Joshi, Lt Payal Gupta, Lt Cdr Pratibha Jamwal, Lt Cdr P Swathi, Lt Aishwarya Boddapati, and Lt Shourgrakpam Vijaya Devi were conferred the Nari Shakti Puraskar for outstanding contribution towards women empowerment. The award presented by Ramnath Kovind, the President of India was received by Lieutenant S Vijaya Devi, who is incidentally Northeast India's first woman sailor on behalf of the team of INSV Tarini.Crew
The crew was short-listed after receiving application for volunteers for the voyage. The expedition was flagged off by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Goa on 10 September 2017. The 6 member all women crew includes:-with the all women crew
1. Lt Cdr Vartika Joshi, also the skipper
2. Lt Cdr Pratibha Jamwal
3. Lt Cdr Aishwarya Boddapati
4. Lt Cdr P Swathi
5. Lt Shourgrakpam Vijaya Devi
6. Lt Payal Gupta
While Lt Cdr Vartika Joshi and Lt Payal Gupta hail from Uttarakhand, Lt Cdr Pratibha Jamwal is from Himachal Pradesh, Lt Cdr P Swathi is from Andhra Pradesh, Lt Cdr Aishwarya Boddapati from Telangana and Lt Shourgrakpam Vijaya Devi hails from Manipur.
The 6 members were conferred with Nau Sena Medal for completing the arduous journey, in the list of gallantry award announced on 14 August 2018; on the eve of India's 72nd Independence Day
Life on the Voyage
The voyage on INSV Tarini was fraught with danger, many times the crew was caught up in gale and faced waves as high as nine-storey building with speed up to 70 knots or 120 kmph. The crew also suffered from extreme weather conditions, starting with 45 degrees in India, 12 degrees in Australia, 0 degree in New Zealand and sub-zero in Pacific Ocean. The crew cooked food according to the weather, sticking to ready to eat foods during bad weather. The crew kept a stock of 400 litres of fresh water for every 40 days. This after crew faced water shortage while moving towards its first stop, and were forced to collect rain water for survival. A team of two officers was always on deck to keep watch of the sea and change in weather in an eight-hour shift. While on the voyage from Australia, the crew witnessed a rare phenomenon, Southern Lights or Aurora Australis and even bioluminescence. While crossing the Pacific the crew encountered a massive storm that lasted almost a whole day, with winds up to 130 km/h. The crew celebrated birthday of Vartika Joshi, Pratibha Jamwal, Payal Gupta, S Vijaya Devi and also the boat INSV Tarini, baking cakes while at sea. They even celebrated crossing of equator with cake.First Stop
INSV Tarini attempting to circumnavigate the globe entered the port of Fremantle in Western Australia on 23 Oct 2017 on completion of first leg of their journey. On arrival to Australian shore, the crew was greeted by High Commissioner of India to Australia Dr. A. M. Gondane and by a large number of local community. During their two weeks stay in Perth, the crew met representatives of Western Australia Government, members of WA Parliament, and Councils of City of Perth and City of Fremantle. The crew also interacted with students from local schools as well as with Indian diaspora, visited Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre at UWA, UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission office and Bureau of Meteorology in Perth. On 5 Nov 2017 after two week stay the crew left Fremantle, Australia for its onwards journey to Lyttleton, New Zealand on its second leg.Second Stop
INSV Tarini on 29 November 2017 entered the Lyttelton port in New Zealand on its second leg of maiden voyage to circumnavigate the globe. The crew were welcomed by Indian High Commissioner to New Zealand Sanjiv Kohli. The vessel has covered over 7800 nautical miles from its starting point in Goa, crossing the Equator on 17 September 2017 and Cape Leeuwin on 9 November to reach here.INSV Tarini was thrown open to visitors at Lyttelton Port on 3 December and nearly 200 people visited the vessel. On 12 December 2017 the crew left for the third leg of its journey towards Falkland Islands. During their two weeks stay the crew visited Rehua Marae, a traditional Maori cultural centre. They also visited a few tourist destinations near Christchurch, including Hanmer hot springs and the French harbour, Akaroa as well as Naval Point Yacht Club, Canterbury and Ara Institute, New Zealand, where a presentation on Navika Sagar Parikrama was given to audience. The crew on 5 December was welcomed by the city of Christchurch with a traditional festive march, known as the Santa Parade. More than 200 school children attended a presentation and interaction session with the crew at Prebbleton School.
Third Stop
INSV Tarini on 21 January 2018 entered the Port Stanley in Falkland Island on its third leg of maiden voyage to circumnavigate the globe. The crew had a testing time while crossing the Pacific Ocean as it experienced rough weather and stormy winds that spanned 41 days. Add to it the extremely cold climate condition they had to overcome. The crew reportedly endured sea wind in excess of 60 knots and ocean waves of up to 7 meters on this leg of the passage. The crew was welcomed by Mr Nigel Philips, CBE, Governor of the Falkland Islands, and her Majesty's Commissioner of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. As part of their stay in harbour, the crew interacted with students from Falkland Islands Community School for Secondary Education, Brownies and Girl Guides, Beavers and Boy Scouts and young adults from the Hockey Club. The crew of INSV Tarini after spending a fortnight in the port departed on its 4th leg of journey on 4 February 2018 for its onward journey to Cape Town, South Africa.Fourth Stop
On its last leg before home stretch to Goa, INSV Tarini reached the 4th stop of Cape Town on 2 March 2018. So far the vessel has covered over 17,500 nautical miles from its start in Goa since September 2017. The vessel is expected to reach its home port of Goa by April 2018 by which time it would have completed 22,000 nautical miles.The crew was received in Cape Town by Mayor Helen Zille, Ruchira Kamboj, High Commissioner of India to South Africa, Indian Consul General of Johannesburg and Cape Town, as well as chairperson of Western Cape and other South African Sailing Associations as well as members of Indian diaspora with bouquets, dhol beats and Holi colour. As the crew was busy with completing its circumnavigation, crew didn't forget to make their followers aware of their activities in real time with blogs and social media updates. Lt. Aishwarya Boddapati has described what she felt seeing the aurora lights in December, 2017; celebrating a crewmember’s birthday at sea, visiting dignitary, and basking in the beauty around her.
The crew left Cape Town for its home stretch on 14 March 2018, but before leaving attended several functions organised in their honour. They met legendary former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes, MasterChef South Africa 2014 Kamini Pather and 8 time South Africa Wind Surfing Champion Roxy Davis as well as Lewis Pugh, who is the first person to complete a long-distance swim in every ocean of the world and also a UNEP Patron of the Ocean.