NDA team to undertake sailing expedition

As part of its diamond jubilee celebrations, the National Defence Academy NDA, Khadakwasla, is organising a sailing expedition by its officers and cadets to a few Indian Ocean Region IOR countries on board a sail training ship 8216;Tarangini8217; from September 22-November 24.

Two officers and 51 cadets, in two groups, will take part in the expedition. The cadets will undergo a training capsule for one week on board the ship prior to setting sail. One officer and 24 cadets will undertake the first half of the voyage 8212; from Kochi till Seychelles 8212; where they will be replaced by the second batch of 27 cadets and an officer who will sail rest of the voyage. Maj Gen B S Grewal, NDA deputy commandant, will also accompany the cadets in the last leg of the voyage, from Colombo to Kochi. The expedition will provide the cadets an opportunity to interact with officers and cadets of other countries and provide them an ideal platform to gain firsthand experience of the vagaries at sea.

Ins Tarangini, the Indian Navy8217;s Sail Training Barque, is custom-built for sail training of officers and cadets. Built at the Goa Shipyard Ltd, Vasco da Gama, Tarangini is the only sailing ship to be commissioned into the Indian Navy on November 11 1997 and is based in Kochi under the Southern Naval Command. The ship is built for long voyages and can be deployed at sea continuously for over 20 days. Tarangini is 54 m long and carries 18 sails with a sail area of almost 1,000 sq m.

Vice Admiral S K Damle, Flag Officer Commanding-In-Chief, Southern Naval Command, will flag off INS Tarangini for the sailing expedition from Kochi on September 22. The ship will visit the ports of Salalah Oman, Port Victoria Seychelles, Male Maldives and Colombo Sri Lanka before returning to Kochi on November 24, after covering a distance of 4,900 nautical miles in 64 days.