Twelve Indian Army officers from the Pune-based College of Military Engineering have boarded on the Blue Water Sailing Expedition

The Blue Water Sailing Expedition, arranged by the Corps of Engineers to mark 75 years of Independence, has twelve Indian Army officers from the College of Military Engineering (CME) in Pune as participants.

The expedition, which will travel 570 nautical miles from Heavy Bridging Training Camp (HBTC), Marve to INS Mandovi in Goa and back, aims to honour the rich traditions of adventure sports in the armed forces and to celebrate the spirit of tri-service integration.

The 12 officers of the CME set off on the trip on April 19 aboard two Seabird-class boats, the Oshin under the command of Captain Vivek Kumar Singh and the Jalashva under the command of Captain Rohit Singh Thakur. The renowned Scottish yacht designer Alfred Mylne created the Seabird-class sailboat in 1922. It has a 26-foot wooden mast, a 6.5-foot beam, and 260 square feet of sail space.

The Army Adventure Nodal Centre, HBTC Marve, offered a two-week blue water sailing course to the officers. Weather forecasting, offshore navigation, maritime safety, heavy weather strategies, sail repair, boat maintenance, provisioning, and communication systems were some of the subjects discussed.

The crew left for INS Mandovi on April 19 to commemorate Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav after completing the course. Maj Gen Vinayak Saini, SM, Officiating Commandant, College of Military Engineering, signalled the start of the sailing voyage.