Dilip Donde becomes first Indian to circumnavigate the world solo

A naval officer today set a record for the first-ever solo circumnavigation of the globe on a sail boat by an Indian, when he steered into the Mumbai harbour after 276 days of arduous journey.

Commander Dilip Donde, who embarked on the voyage on August 19 last year on INSV (Indian Naval Sailing Vessel) Mhadei, approached the finish line as his boat, ceremonially escorted by a fast attack craft of the navy along with speedboats and two tugs operating their water canons, touched base back in India at the Sunk rock Light House here.

The 42-year-old officer covered 21,600 nautical miles sailing in the seas to achieve the milestone, as part of the Navy's daunting 'Sagar Parikrama' project.

Vice president Hamid Ansari along with chief of naval staff Nirmal Kumar Verma and Donde's family members, who were on board INS Delhi, anchored at the finish line, were here to witness the historic moment and gave him a rousing reception.

Dhonde, a NDA alumnus and a trained clearance diver in the Navy, volunteered for Project 'Sagar Parikrama' and also trained with legendary Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first man to sail solo and non-stop round the world in 1968-69.

The 56-foot-long Mhadei, with 23 tonne displacement, is made of wood core fibre glass with state-of-the-art navigation and communication equipment fitted on it and is the first boat of this size and complexity to be built in India with some foreign help from South Africa, New Zealand, and Sweden.

The world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation was set in January 2008 by Frenchman Francis Joyon at 67 days, 13 hours, 34 minutes and 6 seconds.