Team Herald
VASCO: Indian Navy’s INSV Mhadei with an all-women crew sailed into Port Louis, Mauritius on Tuesday afternoon.
The vessel had started the mission from Goa, on May 24. The women officers are training to form an all-women crew that would attempt to circumnavigate the globe next year.
This is the first time an Indian Navy vessel has sailed on an ocean voyage with an all-women crew.
Mhadei was received by the Mauritian Coast Guard vessel Retriever outside Port Louis harbour and was escorted to her berth. Alongside, she was received by the Acting High Commissioner of India, the Commandant of the National Coast Guard and other officers and families of the Indian High Commission. Ten women police officers of Mauritius embarked on Mhadei 10 miles outside the harbour and sailed into port with her crew.
The 2100 nautical mile voyage was covered by the crew in 20 days passing through rough seas whipped up by the South West monsoons. Mhadei encountered winds of up to 35 kts, sea states up to 5 and a swell of up to 5 m during the onward leg from Goa to Mauritius.
Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi, a naval architect, is the first woman skipper of Mhadei. The boat is crewed by Lieutenant P Swathi, Lieutenant Pratibha Jamwal (air traffic control specialists), Lieutenant Vijaya Devi, Sub Lieutenant Payal Gupta (both education officers) and Lieutenant B Aishwarya, a naval architect.
The return journey from Port Louis to Goa is slated to commence on June 24 and is expected to arrive in Goa early next month, according to a Navy press note issue here.
