The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee with the Lt. Cdr. Abhilash Tomy of Indian Navy at the Ceremonial reception
upon completion of solo, non-stop, voyage round the world, in Mumbai on April
06, 2013.
Indian Navy's Lt. Cdr.AbhilashTomy on Saturday became the first
Indian to circumnavigate the earth in a sailboat - solo, non-stop and
unassisted.
Tomy, a maritime reconnaissance pilot, arrived at the
historic Gateway of India, to a rousing reception by school children and was a
accorded a ceremonial welcome by President Pranab Mukherjee, who is also the
supreme commander of Indian armed forces.
Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan, Navy Chief Admiral
DK Joshi, and Western Naval Command chief, Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha were also
present to receive Tomy.
Tomy had set sail out
of Mumbai on Nov 1, 2012 in the sail boat INSV Mhadei to undertake a voyage no
Indian had attempted before.
He said his voyage was a fulfilment of a 14-year-old dream
and four years of hard preparation. He thanked his mentors Vice Admiral (retd.)
MP Awati and Cdr. Dilip Donde and also the builders of INSV Mhadei - Ratnakar
Dandekar of Goa.
In 2009, Donde had also set to voyage around the earth in the
same sailboat and had finished his circumnavigation in 276 days, but with four
stops. Tomy's voyage had no stops.
Congratulating Tomy on his achievement, Mukherjee said it
will be a source of inspiration for future generations of young seafarers.
"His epic voyage has placed our nation into the ranks of
few select countries, whose citizens have been successful in braving such
arduous voyage," he said.
"Battling wave heights of 9-10 metres and wind speeds in
excess of 100 kmph can be an extreme test of endurance. The solitude factor
alone is such that being thousands of kms away from the nearest land, with very
little chance of help coming by if something went wrong, requires courage,
determination and grit of the highest order," he added.
Tomy's voyage under the aegis of "Sagar Parikrima
II" was of approx 22,000 nautical miles, crossing the Indian, Pacific and
Atlantic Oceans by using sails and the power of the wind, without touching any
port and without any outside assistance.
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