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Samudra Pradakshina, India's first tri-service all-women circumnavigation sailing expedition, concluded at Mumbai on 22 July 2026.
Nine women officers from the Army, Navy and Air Force sailed roughly 25,500 nautical miles over 314 days.
The crew sailed the Indian Army Sailing Vessel (IASV) Triveni, a 50-foot indigenously built yacht.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who had flagged the expedition off on 11 September 2025, received the team on its return.
The voyage met all recognised conditions for a circumnavigation, including rounding the three great capes and crossing the Drake Passage.
Sailing a long way is not enough to be recognised as circling the globe. The accepted conditions require crossing every meridian of longitude, crossing the equator twice, crossing the International Date Line, and rounding the three great capes — Cape Leeuwin in Australia, Cape Horn in South America and the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. Samudra Pradakshina satisfied all of these, which is what makes it a recognised circumnavigation rather than simply a long voyage.
Simple Analogy: It is the difference between running a lot of laps and actually completing the marathon course as measured.
The route took the crew around the three great capes and through the Drake Passage, the stretch between Cape Horn and Antarctica's South Shetland Islands that is notorious for huge swells and gale-force winds. Sailors who round Cape Horn under sail become eligible for the Cape Horners association.
General Awareness > Armed Forces Expeditions and Firsts
Prelims > Current Events; GS Paper 1 > Role of Women
General Awareness > Current Affairs and Firsts
A voyage around the world meeting set conditions, including crossing all meridians and rounding the three great capes.
The rough stretch of sea between Cape Horn and Antarctica, among the most difficult passages for sailors.
Women's empowerment, invoked here for the all-women composition of the crew.