Kochi: The NCC cadets and the crew on board the Indian Naval Ship Tir who embarked here on April 4 have been kept in quarantine for 14 days in the fallout of COVID-19.

Earlier they had been on a fortnight long quarantine on the sea after a foreign tour which gave them maximum exposure on various facets of life at sea through a structured training programme with special emphasis on the role of Indian Navy. The cadets enthusiastically participated in all activities of the ship.

During the ship’s community outreach programme at an old age home in Port Louis, Mauritius, the NCC cadets won the admiration of the inmates by their sprightly enthusiasm and caring touch. The interactions were restricted due to the developing COVID-19 situation. The cadets also gained immensely from regular interaction with Indian Naval officers as also the foreign sea riders and trainees from Maldives, Seychelles, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar who were also embarked onboard the ship.

The overseas deployment of ship was curtailed due to the COVID 19 pandemic and the ship returned to harbour on April 4 after completing a 14-day quarantine period at sea. Due to the impracticality of Social distancing onboard ships, the whole ship with its personnel is treated as a cohort and quarantined as a whole. The crew of the ship and NCC cadets are presently undergoing an additional 14-day quarantine period in harbour as a precautionary measure.

INS Tir, a cadet’s training ship of Indian Navy under Southern Naval Command (SNC) with 14 Naval Wing NCC cadets from different parts of the country embarked, returned to Kochi on completion of Overseas Deployment of the “First Training Squadron”(1TS).