Hyderabad sources stated that to encourage a spirit of adventure among young soldiers and to spread awareness about ocean pollution, the Army has undertaken a wind sailing expedition ‘Round the Indian Peninsula’ from Haldia in west Bengal on the east coast to Porbandar in Gujarat on the west coast. Meanwhile the expedition is being organized by EME Sailing Association, MCEME of Secunderabd under the aegis of the Army Adventure Wing.
Accordingly the team lead by Major Alok Kumar Yadav will complete the expedition in about 45 days. Furthermore the EME Sailing Association has undertaken off-shore expeditions earlier, but of a much smaller scale using the Sea Bird class of boats. Hence the current expedition being more challenging has been undertaken, for the first time, in an ocean going Bavaria Class 44-ft sail yacht. Hence the team will be calling at all major ports along the Indian coast line including Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Mangalore, Goa and Mumbai before reaching Porbandar.
Moreover the team has also tied up with various NGOs to achieve the secondary aim of collecting data about marine life conservation and oceanic pollution and also the expedition was conceived about two years ago as a precursor to bigger expeditions like circumnavigation of the globe. Hence the training included classes on navigation, marine communication, radio telephony, passage planning, knots and hitches, tides and currents, medicine and first aid.
