Two retired Telugu officials – former Colonel K. Srinivas and Captain CDNV Prasad (Indian Navy) set sail from Opua Bay in New Zealand, marking their first phase of their journey to India, on a 34-foot sailing boat, Testi. Both officers belong to the 63rd class of the National Defense Academy (NDA) in 1980.
Their sailing boat is currently registered in Poland but is expected to be registered in India after arriving in Visakhapatnam later this year. At that time, the ships that could be renamed Vishakha Salute to the port city. By the way, both are alumni of the prestigious Senik School (the 1971 admission batch), which has been a stable feeding institution for the NDA and other defense colleges for the past sixty years.
Among the school’s famous alumni, the late Colonel Santosh Babu of MVC (after his death), he was marred in the Galwang Valley conflict. If weather and wind conditions are still favorable, the duo are expected to arrive at their next destination – Savusavu in Fiji, a potentially tortuous route due to navigation needs.
Their planned maritime routes include port phones at Savusavu (Fiji), Vila port (Vanuatu), Solomon Islands, Kupang and Bali (Indonesia), Penang and Langkawi (Malaysia), Phuket (Thailand) and Sri Vijaya Puram. The expedition highlights the undeveloped potential of Andhra Pradesh’s long coastline, scattered with ports, beaches and fishing villages to promote marine tourism and leverage the wider blue economy, a press release said. This is also a strong foundation for the development of modern berths and dock facilities in Visakhapatnam in the near future.
publishing – May 19, 2025 12:55 AM IST
