All-woman crew Navy ship enters Chennai

The Indian Navy’s sail boat INS Mhadei with its all-woman crew of Naval officers, who are set to circumnavigate the world next year called on at the Chennai port on Saturday. Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi, the first woman skipper of this boat along with lieutenants Swathi, Pratibha Jamwal, Vijaya Devi and sub lieutenant Payal Gupta will attempt to create the record of circumnavigation in 2017. 

Another member of the crew Lieutenant Aishwarya will join the team in March. The sail boat with its all women crew was the cynosure of all eyes during the International Fleet Review 2016 held at Visakhapatnam recently. 

Speaking to DT Next, Lieutenant Swathi said that they are excited to be part of this adventure, which demands not just absolute physical fitness but also mental composure. “We are now accustomed with the challenges and rigours of the sea,” she said and added that she has been sailing since she was 12. It may be noted that in 2014 when the INS Mhadei departed from Goa for Cape Town in South Africa, Swathi was part of the crew. All the women officers of this sail boat have undergone rigorous training in seamanship, survival craft and satellite communication in premier institutions in India. 

INS Mhadei will call on at Cochin port in Kerala next before reaching Goa.