At about noon today, January 27, the Indian Army Ocean Sailing Expedition 2016 was flagged off by Lieutenant General V Menon, Commandant, College of Military Engineering, Pune.  The expedition will cover approximately 800 nautical miles (1,500 kms) from Marve to Porbandar, Okha (Gujarat) and back.  A total of 32 crew members consisting of officers, JCOs and Ors from the Corps of Engineers and the Regiment of Artillery under the helm of Lieutenant Colonel Karunakaran are participating in the expedition. The expedition consisting of four Seabird Class Yachts which set sail from Marve Beach this morning is scheduled to return on February 18.

Speaking on the occasion, Lt Gen V Menon said that the Indian Army has been a pioneer in adventure activities and has a glorious legacy in the field of sailing. He explained to the crew that the field of warfare is similar to an adventure as it involves alertness of body and mind and risk to life and that the expedition will provide big lessons in soldering. He recounted the circumnavigation of the globe, onboard the yacht ‘Trishna’ in 1985-87 by brave officers from Corps of Engineers as the crowning glory in sailing in the history of Indian Army. The expedition had covered a mammoth 30,000 nautical miles. Since then the army has undertaken numerous ocean sailing expeditions and carved a niche in the field of ocean sailing.

The current expedition is being conducted under the aegis of the Army Aqua Nodal Centre, Marve and has been planned, coordinated and organised by the College of Military Engineering, Pune.  All the sailors underwent rigorous selection process and were trained on Blue Water Sailing at the Heavy Bridging Training Camp at Marve, which, in addition to its professional training task, is a premier institute for carrying out watermanship and sailing training for the Indian Army.