The Indian Navy’s second ocean going sailboat Tarini was inducted in presence of a host of dignitaries at a glittering ceremony at INS Mandovi Boat Pool on February 18. Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chief of the Naval Staff, along with other senior naval officers was also present on this historic occasion to wish the boat and her crew a success in their endeavours. INSV Tarini is a sloop built by Aquarius Shipyard Pvt Ltd at Divar, Goa. 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.

During the ceremony, Admiral Sunil Lanba announced that the extremely challenging expedition by her all women crew is slated to commence in August 2017. Talking about the women crew, he said that the team has logged over 10,000 nautical miles on INSV Mhadei, including a voyage from India to Mauritius and back and Goa to Cape Town braving through rough monsoon seas and heavy wind.

The dignitaries had a visit to the boat and were briefed on its advanced features, including improvements, based on experience of operating INSV Mhadei, which have been incorporated. On completion of the ceremony, the crew sailed the boat out of harbour displaying its agile handling capabilities.

The keel of the vessel was laid on March 27, 2016, at the Aquarius Shipyard. The construction was diligently overseen by the Warship Overseeing Team, Goa, and the vessel was delivered before the scheduled date of delivery by the boat builder. Extensive trials of the newly built INSV Tarini were successfully completed on January 30, 2017. The boat is skippered by Lt Commander Vartika Joshi and crew members include Lt Commander Pratibha Jamwal, Lt Aishwarya Boddapati, Lt Patarapalli Swathi, Lt Sh Vijaya Devi and Lt Payal Gupta.

Indian Navy will is operating four sailing vessels capable of open ocean deployments, that is, Tarangini, Sudarshini, Mhadei and Tarini, all four of which have been built in shipyards at Goa. Indian Navy is attempting to revitalise open ocean sailing and will also be inducting four 40 feet, state of the art open ocean racing sail boats.