Navy vessel with all-women crew arrives in Kochi

Kochi, Feb 29: Indian Navy's all-women crew vessel "Mhadei" has reached here. The vessel set sail from Visakhapatnam for her home port, Goa, after participating in the International Fleet Review and reached here on the night of Feb 27.

Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi, a Naval Architect, was appointed as the first woman Skipper of Mhadei on February 8 just prior to the voyage from Visakhapatnam.

She 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," according to a Navy release here.

The women officers are training to form an all-women crew that would attempt to circumnavigate the globe next year. Mhadei visited Chennai port before coming to Kochi. It would depart after a few days halt here.

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, it said.

PTI