All-women naval crew eyes record circumnavigation

New Delhi: A six-member all-women crew of the Indian Navy is set to embark on an eight-month voyage in September to circumnavigate the world, the first such feat to be attempted from Asia.

The naval officers led by Lt. Commander Vartika Joshi will set sail in the naval auxiliary vessel INSV Tarini from Goa, and they are expected to depart early September.

"We will be passing through some of the roughest patches of sea during the voyage," Joshi told reporters on Thursday.

"This all-women circumnavigation attempt would be the first of its kind, not only from India but also Asia. They are well-trained and with their maritime odyssey, they will also set sail into the record books," Naval Chief of Personnel Vice Admiral A K Chawla said.

"They are going to set benchmarks not just for India but the entire world," he said.

Fellow crew member Pratibha Jamwal, who had joined the Naval Academy in 2011, said, the voyage is daunting but they are all trained and set for it.

The expedition will be covered in five legs, with stopovers at 4 ports -- Fremantle (Australia), Lyttleton (New Zealand), Port Stanley (Falklands), and Cape Town (South Africa), it said.