An epic voyage

INS Tarangini returns to India after circumnavigating the world in 458 days - a testament to the Indian Navy's operational capability.

in Kochi

PRESIDENT A.P.J. Abdul Kalam flew down to Kochi on April 24 to welcome the naval ship, INS Tarangini, which had returned after circumnavigating the world, after covering 33,000 nautical miles in 458 days. The ship departed from Kochi in February last year. There was a lot of pomp and ceremony on show as the sail ship slowly moved into the harbour. Naval personnel were lined up along the banks of the harbour channel to welcome the ship. Several ships of the Indian Navy, all decked up and flying the new naval flag, were on hand to receive the ship and its pioneering crew. Traditional Kerala boats with folk artists on board added colour to the proceedings. A 21-gun salute was given from the INS Teer, a training vessel of the Navy.

The Indian Navy has reason to be proud of the successful voyage. It was the first attempt by the Navy to circumnavigate the globe using a sail ship. The idea was the brainchild of Admiral Madhvendra Singh, the Chief of the Naval Staff. He said that the successful culmination of the voyage was a "testament to the operational capability" of the Indian Navy. The Navy had support staff in place all over the world to lend technical support to the ship. There was a crew of 300 officers and sailors who were rotated during different legs of the journey. Only eight crewmen were on board throughout the voyage. The Admiral said that circumnavigation by a training ship instilled a spirit of adventure and patriotism in the young crew, many of whom were cadets.

According to Madhvendra Singh, the trip was also a cost-effective way of building diplomatic bridges. When the ship was in Fiji, the serving Prime Minster and two former Prime Ministers, who otherwise have a strained political relationship, had come visiting. The sail ship with three masts docked in 18 countries and 37 ports.

President Kalam, in his speech welcoming the crew, said that because of the Tarangini voyage, India could fly "the flag of peace in all parts of the world". He congratulated Commanders Shoukathali Sheikh, P.K. Garg and Mukul Asthana, who were in charge of different phases of the voyage.

INS TARANGINI was almost entirely powered by wind. Engine power was used only on a couple of occasions and that too for very short distances. The ship was caught up in a vicious storm in the Mediterranean in March last year. Gale winds ripped the sails and hooks off the ship. Commander Sheikh, who was in charge of the ship then, said that it took the crew more than 28 hours to negotiate their way out of the choppy waters. According to Sheikh, the waves reached a height of more than 10 metres. He had to use the engines to guide the ship out of harm's way. (Commander Sheikh was awarded the Nau Sena medal for bravery.) The engines were used again when the ship was navigating through the equatorial doldrums near the Galapagos Island in the Pacific Ocean. One of the high points of the trip was when the vessel won the first prize in the prestigious race for tall ships in the Great Lakes on the United States-Canada border.

While interacting with the media, the Navy chief said that the country might have to reconcile itself to a leaner Navy. He said that the strength of the naval fleet might go down in the coming years, from 140 to around 120-127, as many of the ships would cease to be seaworthy. He hastened to add that the reduction in numbers would not adversely impact on the fighting capability of the force. "But the ability to show our presence in international waters and our peace time work will be reduced." The Admiral said that ideally the Navy would prefer to have around 200 ships and most of the ships would have to be purchased from foreign vendors.

Admiral Madhvendra Singh said that work on the indigenous Air Defence Ship (ADS) would begin by the end of this year at the Kochi shipyard. According to him, the INS Viraat, India's only aircraft carrier, would be around for five more years. The original plan was to retire the ship in a couple of years. Obviously it will look odd for one of the biggest navies in the world to be without an air defence ship. The Gorshkov is expected to join the Indian Navy only in 2008.

THE next two to three years are going to be interesting for the Indian Navy. Admiral Madhvendra Singh said that apart from the induction of Talwar class ships, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and the Barak anti-missile system, the Navy is also embarking on an active submarine acquisition and building programme. Six "Scorpene" submarines will be joining the fleet soon. Six more will be built under contract in India. The Navy Chief refused to confirm whether negotiations were on with Moscow for the purchase or lease of two "Akula" class submarines. There are indications that the Russian government may be favourably inclined to sell the nuclear-powered submarines. The Navy is also waiting for a new government to be in place in New Delhi for a decision to be taken on the purchase of long-range surveillance aircraft. Till this is done, the Navy will depend on the Russian built IL-78 aircraft, which are in the process of being upgraded. Eleven Dornier aircraft are being inducted into the Navy. They will be mainly used for short-range surveillance activity. Admiral Singh said that the naval base in Karwar will be operational by 2005 and the Ezhimala Naval Academy near Kochi would become functional in 2006.

He indicated that in the coming years, the Indian Navy would be an active "force projector" for the country in the region. The Navy is already guarding the important sea-lanes in its vicinity, like the Malacca Straits. It has helped in relief work in the Indian Ocean region, in countries like Sri Lanka, Mozambique and Seychelles. An Indian Naval ship has for the first time in 50 years visited West Africa.

Admiral Madhvendra Singh said that India's naval build-up should not be a cause for alarm among its neighbours. He said that the Indian Navy had excellent relations with all navies, including that of China. It has held joint exercises with most of them.

Many Asian countries are indeed worried about what they perceive as "hyper-activism" by the navies of some countries in the Indian Ocean. The governments of the United States, Japan and Singapore are among the countries that want India to play an active role in safeguarding oil routes, especially in the Straits of Malacca, which facilitates a quarter of the world trade. (More than 50,000 ships carrying oil traverse the straits every year.)

Interestingly, Washington wants India to keep a low profile in the Persian Gulf region. Washington's current close ally Pakistan would not be too happy with India being given the policing job in its backyard. The Malaysian government issued a strong statement in the last week of April criticising its neighbour Singapore for suggesting that Kuala Lumpur was incapable of protecting the Malacca Straits on its own. Singapore had suggested that Malaysia needed the help of the American Navy to protect the narrow straits from terrorist threats. Malaysia has said that it is capable of dealing with the threat on its own.

The Indian Navy has to learn to sail gently through choppy diplomatic waters in the region.