Indian Navy’s all women sailing vessel sails off from Australia

Fremantle (Australia), Nov 5 (IANS) Indian Naval Sailing Vessel (INSV) Tarini left Australia's Fremantle on Sunday morning for its onwards journey to New Zealand's Lyttleton, a defence statement said.

INSV Tarini had arrived at Fremantle on October 23, after completion of first leg of its maiden voyage to circumnavigate the globe.

This historic circumnavigation attempt by an all-women crew is being led by Lt Commander Vartika Joshi, and the crew comprises Lt Commanders Pratibha Jamwal and P. Swathi, and Lieutenants S Vijaya Devi, B Aishwarya and Payal Gupta.

The crew of INSV Tarini was officially welcomed to Western Australia by its Tourism, Defence Issues and Citizenship and Multicultural Interests Minister Paul Papalia and Women's Interests Minister Simone McGurk on November 1. Western Australia Ministers were accompanied by two Indian-origin members of WA Parliament.

Royal Australian Navy chief, Vice Admiral Tim Barrett, also visited the vessel on November 1 to welcome the crew.

He also handed over a personal message from Australian Minister for Defence Marise Payne for the crew.

The crew had several engagements during its stay in Fremantle, including call-on meetings with Western Australia Governor Kerry Sanderson and Freemantle Deputy Mayor Ingrid Waltham. WA Legislative Council President Kate Doust also hosted the crew at WA Parliament for an interaction with female MPs from all major parties.

The INSV Tarini crew had an opportunity to interact with a wide range of stakeholders during the welcome reception hosted by the Indian Consulate on October 28, which was attended by about 100 distinguished guests, including members of WA Parliament, state officials, businessmen, academicians, consular corps, leaders from Indian community and media persons.

The crew of INSV Tarini also had an opportunity to interact with strategic thinkers and academia during a presentation and reception event hosted by Perth US-Asia Centre, a leading think tank focusing on geopolitical issues based in the University of Western Australia, on October 31. More than 200 students attended a presentation and interaction session with the crew at Perth Modern School on the same day.

The crew also visited the scientific facilities at the Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre at University of Western Australia. They also had a chance to meet renowned Australian scientist & Australian of the Year 2017 Professor Alan Mackay-Sim, who is famous for his work on stem cell research. The crew also had a trip to few tourist places in Perth and Fremantle, including Rottnest Island.