All-Women Crew Indian Navy Ship Enters Chennai Port

The vessel which had left Visakhapatnam on February 9, was scheduled to make stops at Chennai and Kochi ports enroute before reaching her home port at Goa. 

"This is the first all-women crew to man any ocean-going ship of the Navy," says a statement from Indian Navy. The ship is skippered and crewed by an all-women team of naval officers for first time ever and is back after participating in the International Fleet Review. 

"All the crew members are volunteers and are driven by their passion for adventure and a love for sailing and the seas," says a naval official. 

Navy says Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi, a naval architect was appointed as the first woman skipper of Mhadei on February 8, just prior to her return voyage. 

 The boat is crewed by Lieutenants P Swathi, Pratibha Jamwal (Air Traffic Control specialists), Vijaya Devi and Sub Lieutenant Payal Gupta (both Education officers). The sixth member of the crew, Lieutenant B Aishwarya is an Engineer and is expected to join the boat in March.

The women officers are training to form an all-women crew that would attempt to circumnavigate the Globe next year. Mhadei will return to Goa on March 2.