INS Tarangini continues with her inspiring Lokayan voyage

Indian Naval Ship (INS) Tarangini entered Aalborg in Denmark as part of its inspiring eight-month voyage christened Lokayan-15. INS Tarangini, a Sail Training Ship (STS) began the journey from Indian shores on May 4 to participate in the annual Tall Ship Races.

The ship is also participating in various sailing events in Europe, being organised under Sail Training International. About 300 sail ships of various sizes from all over the world are participating in this year's events.

"The ship is expected to travel approximately 17,000 miles under sails," says Indian Navy's Official Spokesperson Capt D K Sharma.

During her voyage, the ship has already grabbed headlines in many international media.

To touch 17 ports and 14 nations

He said the ship's voyage to 17 ports in 14 countries is mainly aimed at showcasing India to the world and demonstrate the Indian Navy's global reach.

Last week, INS Tarangini was at Kristiansand in Norway. However, the first race from Kristiansand (Norway) to Aalborg (Denmark), which had started on July 28 had to be cancelled two days later owing to nil wind conditions.

The ship is expected to participate in few more races including the Sail Rostock, Sail Bremerhaven, both in Germany, and Sail Amsterdam in Netherland.

"We are closely monitoring the progress of INS Tarangini with great interest as the ship always fetched glory to India through her sailing missions," Capt Sharma added.

This year's Tall Ship Races will be conducted primarily off the coast of United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands.

Arduous voyage for the crew

Navy says Tall Ship is a term often used generally to describe large, classic sailing vessels. The first tall ship event was organised in 1956, where the foundation of Sail Training International was mooted.

The crew of the ship will undertake this arduous voyage through the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the North Sea.

The ship has an illustrious history when it comes to long voyages and was the first Indian Naval Ship to circumnavigate the globe in 2003-04.

Since then, she has sailed to ‘The Great Lakes' in Canada for races and has also participated in the European Tall Ship Races.

Taranagini won many championships in the past

Tarangini won The Royal Thames Yacht Club Challenge Trophy in 2005 at Europe and stood third in Youth Sailing Division in 2007 at USA.

Apart from these races, the ship sails extensively across the Indian Ocean Region for the purpose of providing sail training experience to the Officer Cadets of the Navy.

"The Indian Navy believes that training onboard these ships is the best method of instilling among the trainees the indefinable sea-sense and respect for elements of nature, which are inseparable from safe and successful seafaring," says Capt Sharma.

Sail training also serves to impart the time-tested values of courage, camaraderie, endurance and esprit-de-corps among the budding naval officers.