In pics: All women crew on board INSV Tarini meets President Kovind

The expedition, known as the Navika Sagar Parikrama, was the first-ever Indian circumnavigation of the globe by an all-women crew

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INSV Tarini is the second sailboat of the Indian Navy.An all women crew onboard Tarini circumnavigated the globe for 9 months.This is the first ever circumnavigation of the globe by an all women Indian crew.

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The all women team was captained by Lt Commander Vartika Joshi and included five other officers — Pratibha Jamwal, Aishwarya Boddapati, Patarapalli Swathi, Vijaya Devi and Payal Gupta. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met the crew when it arrived near Panaji, from where it had embarked on the journey on September 10 last year

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The expedition was sailed in six legs, with several stopovers.Covering over 21,600 nautical miles since she left Goa, INSV Tarini visited five countries and crossed the Equator twice, sailed across four continents and three oceans.

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A specialised training was given to the crew for two years to help it learn the ropes of astronomy, meteorology, navigation, communication, seamanship and reading weather and weather maps.

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Talking about their future plans, the women officers said that they were planning to go for solo circumnavigation. They also mentioned the challenges they had to face during the mission. The naval team battled winds up to 60 knots in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.