Indian Navy sailing vessel Mhadei Sailing with an all-women crew enters Chennai
The sail boat had left Visakhapatnam on 9 Feb and is scheduled to make stops at Chennai and Kochi ports enroute before reaching her home port at Goa.
Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi, a Naval Architect, was appointed as the first woman Skipper of Mhadei on 08 Feb just prior to her return voyage. The boat is crewed by Lieutenants P Swathi, Pratibha Jamwal (Air Traffic Control specialists), Vijaya Devi and Sub Lieutenant Payal Gupta (both Education officers).
The sixth member of the crew, Lieutenant B Aishwarya is an Engineer and is expected to join the boat next month.
The women officers are training to form an all-women crew that would attempt to circumnavigate the Globe next year. Mhadei will remain at the Ports of Chennai (13-16 Feb) and Kochi (23-26 Feb) on her return journey.
She will eventually return to Goa on 02 Mar.
This is the first all-women crew to man any ocean-going sailing boat of the Navy. All the crew members are volunteers and are driven by their passion for adventure and a love for sailing and the seas.
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