All-Women Crew Of INSV Tarini Receives Tenzing Norgay Award

The Indian Navy’s first all-woman crew of INSV Tarini has been bestowed with the prestigious Tenzing Norgay National Adventure award. These Indian women made maritime history, by sailing across the world for eight months, ie spending 194 days at sea.

All the 6 crew members of INSV Tarini which went for around globe sail has been awarded the Tenzing Norgay Awards. The Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award is the highest national recognition for outstanding achievements in the field of adventure on land, sea & air. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/9QZWdNx1dZ

— ANI (@ANI) September 18, 2018

Tenzing Norgay National Adventure award

The award is the highest national recognition for outstanding achievements in the field of adventure on land, sea and air. The sailboat Tarini is being inducted into the Navy and is slated to be the platform for First Indian All-Women Circumnavigation of the globe expedition of the Indian Navy. It represents a mission under the Navika Sagar Parikrama Project that began in September last year. The crew was also bestowed with the Nav Sena Medal on the occasion of 72nd Independence Day earlier in August.

The INSV Tarini Crew

This highly trained women’s crew was led by Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi. The team of the women on board comprised 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. All these women are united by the sole passion for sailing.

Also read: Radhika Menon is the first woman ever to get the award for bravery at sea

Achievements of women's crew in Indian Navy

Aimed to complete a historic open ocean voyage, Tarini’s all-woman crew sailed in September 2017. They had arrived in Panaji, Goa, on May 21 after successfully circumnavigating the globe. They also set a record by becoming the first-ever all-women crew to complete circumnavigation. These women faced some extremely challenging situations during the expedition.

In the history of the Indian Navy, the women's crew earlier has been sailed over 10,000 Nautical miles on INSV Mhadei. The voyage from Goa to Mauritius and back, was completed in 20 days. They also sailed from Goa to Cape Town, a journey that was not an easy one. While they ran into some rough weather, sailed through during the monsoon seas and heavy winds, naval officials are proud of their achievements and applauded for the courage shown so far.

Feature Image Credit: India Today

Read More Stories By Ria Das