New Delhi, Aug 14 (UNI) The members of Team Tarini will be awarded Nao Sena medal on the occasion of 72nd Independence Day.
Indian Navy’s six brave women officers completed their historic circumnavigation of the globe in May this year.
The gallantry award recognises individual acts of exceptional devotion to duty or courage.
Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi, who led the expedition,(Skipper) Lieutenant Commander Prathibha Jamwal, and Lieutenants Swathi Patarpalli, Aishwarya Boddapati, S Vijaya Devi and Payal Gupta are the ones who have been awarded the Nao Sena medal.
The six women spent more than eight months out at sea, sailing around the world in six legs on the Indian Naval Sailing Vehicle (INSV) Tarini.
The crew made stops in Fremantle (Australia), Lyttleton (New Zealand), Port Stanley (Falkland Islands), Cape Town (South Africa) and Mauritius.
INSV Tarini covered 21,600 nautical miles in their eight months of circumnavigation.
They crossed the Equator twice, sailed across four continents and three oceans, and passed south of the three Great Capes -- Leeuwin, Horn and Good Hope.
In Lt Cdr Joshi's award citation from Ministry of Defence reads, “The entire voyage was completed using sails, regularly negotiating 10-meter waves and over 100 kmph winds with the temperatures varying between 4 and 40 degree Celsius as the vessel traversed through different parts of the world.”
The first ever expedition is titled as “Navika Sagar Paikrama”, aims to showcase 'Nari Shakti' on the world platform and help in transforming societal attitudes and mindset towards women in India by raising visibility of their participation in challenging environs.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had flagged-off INSV Tarini from Goa on September 10, 2017.
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