Army sailing expedition reaches Kochi shores

KOCHI: The Indian Army Ocean Sailing Expedition which started from Mumbai and will touch Minicoy which is the sothernmost island of Lakshadweep before returning to Mumbai has now reached Kochi.  The expedition was flagged off by Lt Gen Vishwambhar Singh, AVSM, VSM, General Officer Commanding, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa Area and UTs of Daman, Diu and Nagar Haveli on February 6 from Heavy Bridging Training Camp at Marve Beach, Malad West, Mumbai.

This expedition also commemorates the platinum jubilee celebrations of the College of Military Engineering, Pune.  The expedition would cover an approximate distance of 1800 nautical miles over a period of 32 days. The expedition is divided into six legs, Marve to Karwar, Karwar to Kochi, Kochi to Minicoy and back via the same route.

A total of 18 officers including sole lady officer, 3 Junior Commissioned Officers and 14 OR (other ranks) are participating in the expedition. The first phase of the expedition from Marve to Minicoy is being lead by Lt Col MK Bhattacharya and the return leg from Minicoy to Marve is being led by Lt Col Karunakaran A who have immense sailing and ocean cruising experience behind them. Lt Swati Choudhary is the sole lady officer participating in the expedition. The expedition will leave for Minicoy on Wednesday.

All participants are qualified in blue water sailing course conducted by the Army and have been trained to handle all kinds of contingencies at sea. A total of four Seabird Class sailboats which are open and rudimentary in nature (about 21 feet in length and 7 feed wide) are being used for the sailing expedition. These 18th century Scottish design boats meant for harbour sailing have minimal onboard stocking capacity with no toilets or modern amenities and electronic gadgets, thereby making sailing expedition on these sailboats extremely challenging. A crew of four set sail in each sailboat in each leg.