The Indian Navy announced a never before seen expedition. As they launched their ocean-going sailboat, INSV Tarini, they announced the expedition of the first ever Indian all-woman circumnavigation.

That’s right, this all women crew will go around the whole world!

This a milestone in the Indian navy history. It is set to start in August 2017.

A ceremony was held for the launch of the newest addition on INS Mandovi, Goa. Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba announced this historic expedition at the ceremony.

The crew consists of six women. They will be boarding the Tarini to start their circumnavigation soon.

The team is being led by Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi.

The other crew members are Lieutenant Commander Pratibha Jamwal, Lieutenant Aishwarya Boddapati, Lieutenant Patarapalli Swathi, Lieutenant Vijaya Devi and Lieutenant Payal Gupta.

All of the women are experienced in navy sailing. They have more than 10,000 nautical miles combined on INSV Mhadei, the precursor to Tarini.

They had several expeditions before from India to Mauritius and then Goa to Cape Town last year.

The team of women were also responsible for improving the older model of the sailboat. They gave ideas and feedback to make the new Tarini.

The INSV Tarini had successful trials this year on January 30.

The INSV Tarini is a design from Netherlands and was built by Aquarius Shipyard Pvt Ltd at Divar, Goa.

It is made of a wooden core with fiberglass sandwich construction and a suite of six sails. The sailboat comes with a Raymarine navigation suite and an advanced satellite communication systems.

Using that, it is possible for the team to be contacted anywhere in the world.

Tarini marks the fourth sailing vehicle launched by the Indian Navy. The others are Tarangini, Sudarshini, and Mhadei. They are planning to launch four 40-feet open ocean racing sailboats soon.

Image Reference: IndiaToday, OdishaNewsTonight