Secunderabad: In continuing the rich maritime heritage and sea faring traditions of the Andhras, two Veterans & Senior Citizens, Colonel K Srinivas (Retd) ex EME and Captain CDNV Prasad (IN) (Retd), both from 63rd course of the National Defence Academy (1980) have sailed from Opua Bay, New Zealand at 1000h on 14 May 2025 (time zone -12) for Savusavu, Fiji on their first leg of the passage to India onboard their 34 Feet long sailboat named TYSTIE. Their boat is presently registered in Poland but will change to Indian Registration and be probably rechristened 'VISHAKHA' (to honour the port of Visakhapatnam) on arrival at Visakhapatnam later during the year.

Both the officers are sons of the Telugu soil and proud alumni of the prestigious Sainik School Korukonda- 1971 entry batch. Over the last 63 years, the school has contributed handsomely to feeding cadets into the National Defence.