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| INS Sudarshini [FILE PHOTO] |
New Delhi: INS Sudarshini, the sail training ship of Indian Navy will set sail from Kochi on an historical mission to celebrate India’s warm ties with ASEAN countries.
The Defence Minister AK Antony will flag off the six month voyage- a unique collaborative venture of Ministry of Defence and Ministry of External Affairs- from the Naval Base at Kochi on Saturday.
During the course of the expedition, INS Sudarshini will visit 13 ports in 9 countries in South East Asia. The voyage commemorates 20 years of dialogue partnership and 10 years of summit level partnership with countries of ASEAN.
INS Sudarshini, a three masted barque, is part of the First Training squadron of the Southern Naval Command and is commanded by Commander N Shyamsunder. She has a crew of 31 in addition to 30 cadets who will learn the ropes of life at sea during the voyage.
The ship will visit the ports of Padang, Bali, Manado (Indonesia), Port Muara (Brunei),Cebu, Manila (Philippines), Da Nang (Vietnam), Sihanoukville (Cambodia), Bangkok (Thailand), Singapore, Port Klang,(Malaysia) Phuket (Thailand), and Sittwe (Myanmar). Various events – cultural and business- are scheduled at these Ports in addition to people to people interactions.
International trainees are also expected to be embarked on board in different legs of the voyage from countries of ASEAN to strengthen Navy to Navy ties.
The ship will return to Kochi on 29 March 2013.