The all-woman Indian Navy crew, now undertaking global circumnavigation in a sail boat Tarini, on Friday crossed the notoriously rough Drake Passage as they rounded Cape Horn off the southern tip of South America. The six-member crew hoisted the national Tri-colour after achieving this feat. The boat is now racing towards Port Stanley in Falkland Islands.
Explaining the significance of this achievement, Navy officials said Drake Passage is the roughest sea in the world and is often termed as Mount Everest of sailing. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the team in a tweet message and said was "proud of their accomplishments."
The circumnavigation mission was flagged off by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in September last year from Goa and the 56-foot indigenously vessel managed by the woman officers is expected to return to India in April. Tarini reached New Zealand last month after the first stop in Australia. The crew has to stop at four points including Freemantle in Australia, lyttelton in New Zealand, Port Stanley and Cape Town before homeward sailing. led by lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi, the five-leg expedition is titled 'Navika Sagar Parikrama.' During the expedition in challenging environment, the crew is also collating meteorological, ocean and wave data besides monitoring marine pollution.