Navy honours women officers

Team Herald

VASCO: The flag officer of Goa Naval Area Rear Admiral Puneet Kumar Bahl on Tuesday felicitated Indian Navy’s women officers for completing their maiden voyage onboard “Mhadei” from Visakhapatnam to Goa. 

“The uniqueness of this seemingly normal voyage is that it was for the first time that Mhadei was skippered and crewed by an all-women crew of naval officers.  Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi, a Naval Architect, was appointed as the first woman skipper of Mhadei on February 8, just prior to the return voyage and later Lieutenant P Swathi, Lieutenant Pratibha Jamwal (Air Traffic Control specialists), Lieutenant Vijaya Devi and Sub Lieutenant Payal Gupta (both Education officers) joined the team and completed the first voyage,”  Bahl informed.

According to Bahl, the officers are training to form an all-women crew that would attempt to circumnavigate the globe in 2017. To prepare themselves for the arduous voyage, the women officers underwent theoretical training in navigation, communication, seamanship and meteorology at the navy’s various training establishments at Kochi in August last year. The officers sailed for the International Fleet Review along with Cdr Donde. 

Mhadei visited the ports of Chennai and Kochi on its return journey to her homeport Goa on International Women’s Day

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Future training plans include an independent voyage to Mauritius in May 2016. The officers would shift to a new boat of the same class as Mhadei that has been ordered by the Navy on M/s Aquarius Shipyard, Goa slated for delivery in February 2017. This is Navy’s first all women crew ocean-going sailing boat. The crew members are volunteers and are driven by their passion for adventure and a love for sailing and the seas,” Bahl added.