From providing safety net from pirates to keeping smugglers away, Indian Navy ensured its pride through troubled waters
Picture for representation for Indian NavyOn the afternoon of Saturday, as President Pranab Mukherjee welcomes Lt. Commander Abhilash Tommy for creating history by becoming the first Indian to complete a solo, non-stop, unassisted circumnavigation of the globe, a few in the Indian Navy will heave a rather heavy sigh of relief. From piracy to anti-national elements smuggling contraband items to shipping accidents which have often been fatal, the theatre between Africa's Cape of Good Hope and the Indian shoreline - the last leg of Lt. Cdr Tommy's Sagar Parikrama - has seen way too much of action in the past three years.
In fact unknown to most, around the middle of March, when the Mhadei passed Mauritius, it planners were up against their toughest challenge. "In other oceans, our Defence Attaches (DA) and Naval Attaches (NA) in our embassies would keep a watch on the boat and update her coordinates. But that would not suffice in this area. Yes, piracy is waning but we wanted to take no chances" said a senior officer.
A decision was thus taken at the highest level to task the naval ship on anti-piracy patrol near the Gulf of Aden which envelopes Somalia, the INS Sarvekshak (Pennant no. J22), with ensuring Lt. Cdr Tommy and Mhadei's safety in these troubled waters. An ocean-going survey vessel, the INS Sarvekshak was to essentially maintain a distant 'surveillance cover' - which implies scanning an area of upto 50 nautical miles around the Mhadei and keeping it clear of all threats. "There was neither any direct contact with Mhadei nor any support lent to its mission. But yes, we were around and ensuring that if there was a need, we wouldn't be too far behind," said an officer. The navy also utilized the facilities, reach and muscle that its deployment in the Indian Ocean region provides, to secure Lt. Cdr Tommy. "In Seychelles and Mauritius our ships are deployed at their request for conducting surveillance of their EEZ areas and stamping out piracy. That apart, we also have stationed a Dornier aircraft since Feb 2011 in Seychelles. Finally, towards countering piracy in the India's own backyard, under Operation Island Watch, we maintain presence in Maldives and west of Lakshadweep islands. So of course these assets helped keep him away from harm's way," mentioned a senior officer.
In fact, by the end of March, once Lt. Cdr Tommy came closer to the Indian shores, it was the duty of the respective commands to maintain a watchful eye. "It began with the Southern Naval Command and then as he climbed up, the Western Naval Command took it up," said an officer.
Commander Dilip Donde who skippered the Mhadei for a solo circumnavigation in 2010 said, "By ensuring a naval ship which was providing distant surveillance cover to the Mhadei, that is the best the navy could have done. At sea, especially in troubled waters, there is precious little that a skipper on a yacht can do." He added that the Mhadei under Lt. Cdr Tommy had done multiple voyages in the affected area and thus the drill was completely well-oiled and executed.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/indian-navy-security-blanket-lt.-commander-abhilash-tommy/1/260927.html
KOCHI, August 17, 2012
Naval pilot from Kochi to embark on historic voyage
Lt Cdr Abhilash Tomy on the Mhadei.The Kerala formation day (November 1) this year is set to be a brave one, with Lieutenant Commander Abhilash Tomy, a naval pilot from Tripunithura, embarking on a daunting non-stop solo circumnavigation of the globe on Indian Naval Sailing Vessel (INSV) Mhadei from Mumbai.
The intrepid naval aviator had earlier provided shore support to Commander Dilip Donde as he solo-steered Mhadei to become the first Indian to go around the globe under sails as part of the Navy’s Sagar Parikrama project.
Two years hence, Lt Cdr Tomy, will earn his sea legs of steel as he traverses the seas on the same sailing yacht covering a distance of 45,000 kms without support or halt, hoping to return in 180 days flat. Primed for the mission by Cdr Donde, Lt Cdr Tomy has been steadily working for this voyage for the past couple of years.
“People often ask me why I need to do all this alone and I say, ‘you never carry your relatives to your honeymoon,” the cool-headed flyer told The Hindu.
In the build-up to his most ambitious mission so far, the Dornier recce pilot played Cdr Donde’s deputy on the boat’s voyage to Cape Town and Rio de Janeiro in a yacht race. He skippered the sloop on the return leg in a weather-packed trans-Atlantic race that ended in Cape, from where he brought it back to Goa solo. Most recently, he undertook a 5,000 nautical mile training cruise to Langkawi and Phuket.
To Lt. Cdr Tomy, the 56-foot yacht built in Goa is virtually his second home, having spent testing times on it at sea and on refits. Since it is a non-stop voyage, the boat will stock adequate ration and supplies, full-capacity fuel for power generation and back-ups to meet exigencies.
For the braveheart pilot, brush with an avian in the middle of the ocean is quite unnerving. “Birds don’t scare me otherwise, but at sea if they pay me a visit, I get a feeling that they manifest the souls of the dead,” says the Lt Cdr.
During his voyages, he saw turtles swim past and was mesmerised by sea glow, bioluminescence due to plankton activity. On occasions, he braved the odds to extend a helping hand to vessels that bore the brunt of ocean’s rage.
While Lt Cdr Tomy has never had serious bouts of hallucinations typical of seafaring activity, he has experienced a spurt in lucid dreams, “which leave an emotional trail once I’m awake.”
One of the criteria for circumnavigation is that the vessel sails south of all the great capes — south of Australia, Cape Horn and Cape of Good Hope. “The farthest south I will go will be the 60- degree south latitude. They say, ‘below the 40th parallel there are no rules, below the 50th no laws and below the 60th no god’,” he says.
“It’s a terrible ocean out there. Waves are not waves but liquid mountains. Imagine a life where your house is continuously in a storm, moves up and down by five metres most of the time and the floors are tilted at a 40-dregree angle. Life in the southern oceans on a sail boat is akin to living inside a washing machine all your life,” he guffaws, and is raring to go.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/naval-pilot-from-kochi-to-embark-on-historic-voyage/article3784691.ece