High adventure on high seas: 38 years of India’s first circumnavigation in ‘Trishna’

Thirty-eight years ago, on January 10, 1987, the Indian Army’s Corps of Engineers made history with the first Indian circumnavigation expedition. The team of 10 officers, led by Maj KS Rao, sailed around the world in a 37-ft Swan-class yacht named Trishna, covering an impressive 30,000 nautical miles across the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific oceans, facing the vagaries of weather and roughness of the seas, at times staring at death itself, but also revelling in the marvels of nature.

Of the 10 members, six used be on the boat at one time, of which four were permanent crew. Skippered by Maj KS Rao, decorated with the Shaurya Chakra and Sena Medal, the crew included Col TPS Chowdhury, team manager Maj AK Singh, who became the first disabled sailor to circumnavigate the globe in a sailboat, Capt Sanjeev Shekhar, Capt Chandrahas Bharti, Maj Amreshwar Pratap Singh, Capt Rakesh Bassi, Lt Navin Ahuja, Maj A Bhattacharya and Maj SN Mathur.

They had been selected from over 100 volunteers and put through a rigorous training programme, including ocean sailing, navigational training, seamanship training, radio operating, cooking and medical.

As a prelude to this expedition, the country’s first voyage in a sailboat to foreign shores was conducted on the 20-ft Seabird Albatross in 1977 by the Indian Army Engineers as a trial, involving a 68-day 7,000 km trip from Mumbai to the Persian Gulf port of Bandar Abbas in Iran and back.

It took four years and numerous bureaucratic hurdles to get a sanction from Army Headquarters and the Government to sail around the World. In July 1984, Col Chowdhury and Maj AK Singh flew to the UK to select an ocean-going yacht as there were none in India nor could anyone build it with the various safety international certificates required. A 15-year old Swan-class yacht, 37-ft in length with two sails, was selected. It was repaired, reequipped, and a crew trained on it, before sailing for India.

Trishna was flagged-off from Mumbai on September 28, 1985 by Gen Arun Shridhar Vaidya, the then Chief of Army Staff, along with Lt Gen PR Puri, the then Engineer-in-Chief at Army Headquarters.

Sailing south, the boat rounded the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa and traversed the Atlantic before touching Brazil and Central America, where it crossed the Panama Canal to enter the Pacific. The next leg took it to New Zealand and Australia, and through the waters of South East Asia and finally back to its starting point, where it was received by the then Chief of Army Staff, Gen Kishnaswamy Sundarji.

The journey was more than eventful for the crew. They encountered raging storms, shredded sails, snapped wires, and distressing radio calls reporting capsized and sank boats and ships, as well as unanswered SOS messages. On several occasions, the boat lost communication with India for days, causing panic back home. The crew also made multiple port calls for replenishment, repairs, and recuperation.

After arrival back home, Trishna was given the singular honour of being made part of the Republic Day Parade, 1987, in New Delhi, requiring special efforts to ferry it to the Capital, fabricate a tableau and carry out rehearsals in a limited time.

The Government announced awards for the whole crew on Republic Day and a commemorative postage stamp was released by India Post on the arrival of the boat on January 10, 1987. They were also awarded the Admiral RH Tahiliani Trophy for Yachtsman of the Year – 1987 and the Ocean Cruising Club’s Order of Merit.