Article © Rajesh Parida, Goa Shipyard Limited

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The name Tarangini comes from the Hindi word 'Tarang' meaning waves. She is the only sail training ship of the Indian Navy. She is termed as a three-masted Barque in sailing parlance i.e. square rigged on the Fore and Main masts and fore and aft rigged on Mizzen mast. The ship has been designed by Mr. Colin Mudie, a famous Naval Architect and yacht designer of U.K. and built by Goa Ship Yard Ltd. Reputed firms from U.K have supplied the sailing rig. INS Tarangini was commissioned on 11 November 1997, and is primarily meant for the sail training of cadets. She also conducts sail training capsules for cadets of the National Defence Academy (NDA), the Naval Academy and INS Shivaji, the training establishment for technical cadets. A sailing ship is the natural training ground for naval personnel and sail training provides an excellent platform for basic seamanship. It teaches initiative and how to use it to the best advantage. The main value of sail training in this modern machine age lies in its unique ability to foster the somewhat old-fashioned character virtues of courage, comradeship and endurance. Sail training ships are increasingly being used as basic seamanship and character building platforms by navies the world over. Sailing platforms provide an ideal setting to provide first hand experience of the vagaries at sea to cadets embarking on a naval career. All sailing manoeuvres require experience of the basic elements of marine environment i.e. wind and weather. They also need nicety of judgement and that indefinable quality of sea sense, which a sailing ship demands. The principal qualification for command or any other position of responsibility at sea requires strength of character and a good deal of sea sense. Sail training imparts all these virtues.

INS Tarangini is built for worldwide operations. She carries 18 sails with a sail area of almost 1000 sq metres. The ship has very high endurance and can be deployed at sea continuously for a period of 20 days. She has a complement of six officers and 27 men as permanent crew and can accommodate and impart sail training to 30 cadets. She sailed out of her home port, Kochi on a circumnavigation voyage on 23 January 2003 and will return to Kochi in April 2004. The theme of this circumnavigation voyage is 'Bridging Friendship Across the Oceans'. During the course of this circumnavigation voyage, INS Tarangini will visit 36 ports in 17 countries. The ship will also take part in the tall ships races conducted by the American Sail Training Association in The Great Lakes. The circumnavigation voyage is planned in six legs. Each leg is of approximately 2½ months in duration. During each leg, INS Tarangini will be manned by 30 cadets of the First Training Squadron in addition to the permanent crew. The cadets and crew will be changed at the end of each leg.

A total of about 300 officers and 60 sailors will participate in this maiden circumnavigation voyage being under taken by the only tall ship of India. A number of maritime nations, particularly from the developing world operate large sailing ships as a means of developing their human resources. The objective is not merely to expose young officers and sailors to the use of sails, various types of ropes and operation of ships of the bygone era. The aim is primarily to develop a spirit of adventure and inculcate in each man the laudable qualities of team work, cohesiveness, espirit de corps, alertness, physical and mental agility, leadership qualities and the ability to face challenges with confidence, resoluteness and a positive attitude. During the course of this circumnavigation voyage by INS Tarangini, we will be able to project our sea faring capabilities to the world and inculcate a spirit of adventure amongst the cadets and crew of the ship. Character building, sail and seamanship training capsules will be imparted to the cadets and midshipman of the Indian Navy and friendly foreign countries thereby building bridges of friendship across the oceans. We will interact with regional navies and other authorities and project India as a major maritime and seafaring nation.

Place of Construction: Goa Shipyard Limited.
Keel Laid: 20 June 1995
Launched: 11 December 1995
Commissioned: 11 November 1997
Length Overall: 54 meters
Beam: 8.53 meters
Height of Foremast above WL: 33.6 meters
Height of Mainmast above WL: 34.5 meters
Height of Mizzenmast above WL: 29.8 meters
Draught: 4.5 meters
Displacement: 513 tonnes
Type of Rig: Three masted Barque
Total number of Sails: Twenty (eight square and twelve fore and aft)
Sail Area: 965.4 sq. meters
Engines: Two Kirloskar Cummins Diesels @ 320 hp each

GOA SHIPYARD LIMITED

Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL), established in 1957 during the Portuguese days in Goa, is today a well-established, flexible Defence Public Sector Shipyard and a ISO 9001 Company meeting the exacting requirements of the Indian Navy, Coast Guard and export market. It has built and delivered  167 vessels. GSL takes pride in the making of this INS Tarangini which is the first and only one of its type built in the country. GSL has a 10,000 sq. metre, completely-covered area for building ships, four slipways for launching & repair of ships and one 180 metre long jetty for outfitting and harbour trials. The shipyard also has the following modern facilities:

• CAD/CAM Centre.
• Electronic Workshop.
• Titanium Alloy Workshop.
• CNC machines for steel preparation, cutting & forming.

GSL can design and build ships up to 105 metres in length, launch weight of 3000 tons displacement and 4.5 metres draught. The annual steel throughput installed capacity of this shipyard is 5000 tons. GSL has a dedicated and experienced strong team of around 1800 employees including 170 well qualified engineers in the field of naval architecture, mechanical, marine, electrical  and electronic Engineering. GSL has earned the distinction of being the  only shipyard in the country that implement ERP for all functions. GSL has so far built ships for customers like the Indian Navy (Fast attack Crafts, Survey Vessels, Seaward Defence Boats, Landing Crafts, Tugs, Missile Crafts, etc.), Indian Coast Guard (Inshore and Offshore Patrol Vessels), ONGC (Offshore Platform Supply cum Standby Vessels), various Indian ports (Voith Schneider Tugs), Andaman and Nicobar Administration (Passenger Vessel, Heave up Mooring Vessel) and Mozambique (High Speed Launchers). It has also designed and built a Damage Control Simulator for the Indian Navy.

GSL specialises in:
• Damage Control Simulators.
• Advanced Offshore Patrol Vessels.
• Offshore Patrol Vessels @ 35 knots.
• Extra Fast Attack Craft @ 45 knots.
• Fast Patrol Vessels with water jet propulsion.
• Mine Counter Measure Vessels - on the design boards.
• CPP Stern Gear/ Shafting.
• Sail training vessels.
• Survey Vessels.