The Legend of Point Nemo

Charismatic mystical characters shrouded with mysteries invite a lot of interest amongst the general population. One such character is the enigmatic Captain Nemo, the famous character from Julius Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Son of an Indian Hindu king from Bundelkhand, Captain Nemo is described as a scientific explorer who roams around the seas with impunity in his famous submersible Nautilus, often aiding seafarers at sea and acting against imperialist maritime powers.

A staunch believer in freedom of navigation on the seas, Captain Nemo claims that 'the sea doesn't belong to tyrants'. The fascinating ideas propagated by Verne in this timeless classic through the character of Captain Nemo continue to spark interest, vivid imagination and a spirit of adventurism in the reader's mind.

Interestingly, the loneliest point on the planet, located furthest away from any land, is named Point Nemo, inspired by Verne's legendary character.

Also known as the Oceanic Pole of Inaccessibility, Point Nemo (coordinates 48°52.6′ South 123°23.6′ West) lies in the South Pacific Ocean. Equidistantly located at approximately 1670 nautical miles or 2700 kilometres from three land vertices of Pandora Islet (British Overseas Territory of Pitcairn Island) to the North, Motu Nui (Chile) to the North East and Maher Island (Antarctic) to the South, the closest human presence to Point Nemo is usually the International Space Station (ISS) when it passes overhead. The location was first identified by a Croatian survey engineer, Hrvoje Lukatela, in 1992, who was heavily inspired by Captain Nemo's character and thus named the location after him.

As an ode to the legendary Indian Captain Nemo and celebrating his spirit of adventurism and desire for freedom of navigation on the seas, an Indian Naval Sailing Vessel Tarini navigated through the perilous waters over Point Nemo on 30 January 2025. The sailship is being helmed by two women officers from the Indian Navy - Lieutenant Commander Dilna K and Lieutenant Commander Roopa A, who have embarked on the global circumnavigation Navika Sagar Parikrama II. Flagged off on 2 October 2024 on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi by the Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, the circumnavigation is the second edition of a women crew helmed sailship voyage.

The first edition of Navika Sagar Parikrama I was conducted by a six-women crew who traversed from Goa to Freemantle (Australia), Lyttleton (New Zealand), Port Stanley (Falklands Island) and Cape Town (South Africa) and returned to Goa after 254 days. The present edition of Navika Sagar Parikrama, while following a similar route as taken by the previous exploration, is a significant step up with a focus on contributing towards scientific and marine research in collaboration with the National Institute of Oceanography and Wildlife Institute of India. Appropriately, the brave women officers are taking regular marine samples, and data is being forwarded to research agencies for further analysis. The voyage is presently in its third leg from New Zealand to Falklands Island and will culminate after an eight-month duration covering 23,400 nautical miles in May 2025.

The sailship Tarini has been indigenously constructed at the Aquarius Shipyard Goa and is the Indian Navy's second sailboat. The first sailboat, Mhadei, also built at the same shipyard, has had the distinction of two successful circumnavigations - the first by Commander Dilip Dhonde in 2009 and the second by Commander Abhilash Tomy in 2012. With Navika Sagar Parikrama II, Tarini looks at equaling the record of its predecessor, albeit by a women-only crew.

Much like Captain Nemo's scientific wonder Nautilus, the Tarini is a significant upgrade from Mhadei and is equipped with state-of-the-art wood-core and fibreglass sandwich hull, a modern navigation suite, emergency steering and satellite communications capability. Tarini is named after the Tara Tarini temple, located in the Ganjam district of Odisha. Before the present circumnavigation trip, Tarini had already clocked over 35,000 nm at sea and looks set to provide a befitting tribute to the temple, which ironically has two female stone faces as the main idols inside its sanctum sanctorum.

As a nation where maritime consciousness is on the rise, the stories of Indian Captain Nemo and the historic circumnavigation voyage being attempted by the two brave woman soldiers form an intricate link between mystique and reality. The fact that the Indian Navy has entrusted an all-female crew for such an excruciating voyage requiring continuous physical and mental endurance speaks highly of the service's commitment to gender parity and excellence.

At the same time, it is a testament to the country's growing maritime eminence and a determined approach to uphold the freedom of navigation on the high seas. The Navika Sagar Parikrama II and the legend of Captain Nemo also serve as a reminder to the general population of the country's maritime heritage and the mastery of the seas, which propagated trade across the Indian Ocean since the ancient era.

Ashish Singh is an award-winning senior journalist with over 18 years of experience in defence & strategic affairs.