Indian Navy Mission Dakshin Dhruv 2006

Company News

MUMBAI, September 8

In December 2006, a team of ten naval personnel will set out for the remotest corner of the world. With their eyes firmly set on reaching the geographic South Pole, this group of mavericks will seek to set the World Record for being the First Defence Forces Team in the World to Ski Traverse to the Pole since 1912. Admiral Arun Prakash - Chief of the Naval Staff formally announced the expedition today. If successful, this team would become the First Indian Team to Ski Traverse to the South Pole.

The Indian Navy team would be cross-country skiing over a distance of about 200 km while manually pulling sleds weighing in excess of 140 kgs. In most places the rate of progress would be excruciatingly slow and brutally exhausting as sleds and loads would have to be lifted and manually hauled across the ice waves.

Speaking on the occasion, Admiral Arun Prakash - Chief of Naval Staff said, “The Antarctica expedition is a landmark venture for the country and the Navy. Representing a microcosm of India the expedition will carry the hopes and aspirations of our countrymen and reflect the qualities of team spirit and indomitable will that our fine Service embodies.”

It shall take the team approximately 15 - 20 days and 10 - 12 hours of active walking each day to achieve their objective. Inaccessibility of region, inhospitable weather and terrain conditions and freezing temperatures only add to the difficulties. Wind speeds averaging 100–150 km/hr, further worsened by katabatic winds of 50 –60 km/hr, speeds. The warmest temperatures are in the range of -10ºC to -35ºC and the cold can burn the skin due to excessive exposure. While the ascension in height is 3200 metres at the South Pole, the effective altitude is around 3800 metres due to the thinner atmospheric layer and Ozone hole. Therefore the team in addition to all weather and terrain hazards would also be exposed to the high altitude zone of above 3000 metres.

The Team

The team will be led by CDR Satyabrata Dam with Lt Cdr. K S Balaji as the Deputy Leader. Lt Cdr. Gaurav Pande, Lt Avinash Khajuria, Surgeon Lt Ajay Sharma, MCERA Raj Kumar, Petty Officer Medical Assitants Rakesh Kumar and Vikas Kumar, Brijendra Singh, Manoj Vats and Sonam Tamchos are part of the expedition team. With members belonging to different parts of India including Uttar Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Ladakh, it is truly a national team. A demanding fitness schedule, coupled with a ski expedition to the Greenland Arctic Ice Cap formed part of the training undertaken to prepare for the expedition.

About Indian Navy Mountaineering Cell

Indian Navy Mountaineering Cell was formed in 2002 under the Directorate of Adventure and Sports, to promote the extreme sport of mountaineering in a major way within the Navy. The Cell is primarily responsible for training and executing mountaineering and allied adventure expeditions within and outside India. It serves as one point contact between the Navy and the rest of the world in the field of mountaineering and winter sports. Under its stewardship, Indian Navy has successfully conducted six major mountaineering expeditions so far including the historical ascent of Mt Everest in 2004, Mt Kamet and Saser Kangri in 2003 and Mt Sujtilla in 2002. In 2006, a navy team also set the record for being the First Indian Expedition to Ski on the Greenland Arctic Icecap.

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