Two women officers of Indian Navy training for solo sailing expedition around the globe

The Indian Navy is training two of its women officers to undertake a solo sailing expedition around the globe, an officer said on Monday.

Lieutenant Commanders Dilna K and Roopa Aligirisamy have been shortlisted for the trip and they are currently on their training expedition, the Indian Navy officer told PTI on the side lines of the third G20 development working group (DWG) meeting in Goa.

Dilna is a logistic officer with the Navy, while Roopa is a naval armament inspection officer, he said.

"One of the two officers will set out to become the first Asian woman solo circumnavigator, if she completes it," the officer said.

The officers had set out on their training expedition in November 2022 from Goa and will be returning to the coastal state on May 24.

"The officers right now have crew members with them and they are on a 17-metre vessel. They have completed 21,800 nautical miles of sailing till date," the officer said.

The officer who gets selected for the expedition will become the first Asian woman to undertake the journey alone, he said.

"This will be purely a sailing expedition. Right from repairs of the ship to laundry and cooking everything they will have to do alone," the officer said, adding that the sailing expedition will be for more than 200 days.