Female Indian Officers Embark on Round-The-World Sea Expedition

Two Indian sailors are due to start a challenging round-the-world sea expedition, the Indian Navy has said in a statement.

Lieutenant Commanders A Roopa and K Dilna will embark on the Navika Sagar Parikrama-2 expedition on the Tarini sailship.

Tarini was the same navy sailship used by six female navy officers in the first Sagar Parikrama expedition from 2017 to 2018. At the time, the crew completed the expedition in 254 days, covering around 40,000km and stopping at only four ports.

In preparation for this expedition, the lieutenant commanders participated in an inter-ocean expedition from Goa to Brazil's Rio de Janeiro last year, as well as sailing from Goa to Andaman and Nicobar and completing a voyage from Goa to Port Louis, Mauritius.

Sagar Parikrama is a test of any sailor's navigational skills, as well as physical and mental toughness. For the expedition, the officers have been trained by the most renowned sailor of the Indian Navy, Commander Abhilash Tomy. Tomy himself achieved the Sagar Parikrama in challenging conditions and became the first Indian to do so alone in 2013.

The Indian Navy has released a logo for Navika Sagar Parikrama-2 which shows the Indian Navy in the centre in an octagonal shape and the sun is shown as a guide in the form of a compass.

Apart from the Tarini, the navy has built boats like the Tarangini, Sudarshini, and Mhadei, which are controlled by sails to undertake adventure expeditions using its ancient navigational technology.