Article Posted on : - Nov 27, 2015

Navy chief Admiral RK Dhowan poses with all medal winners, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command, Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba (R), Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar(L), Rear Admirals K S Venuopal and M D Suresh during a passing out parade at Indian Naval Academy in Ezhimala, Kerala on Thursday. A PTI Photo.

KANNUR, KERALA (PTI): Three hundred and thirty cadets of the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard and six cadets from friendly foreign countries on Thursday passed through the portals of the Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala near here on successful completion of their training, at an impressive passing out parade.

The passing out parade marked commissioning of the cadets of the 89th Indian Naval Academy Course (B Tech) and (MSc) courses into the Indian Navy here.

The passing-out cadets belonged to four different courses of the Autumn Term 2015--the 89th Indian Naval Academy Course (INAC) BTech & MSc courses, the 20th Naval Orientation Course (Extended), and the 21st Naval Orientation Course (Regular).

Also graduating and marching shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts were women cadets from the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard.

The parade was reviewed by the Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral R K Dhowan.

After the ceremonial review, the Reviewing Officer awarded medals to nine meritorious cadets.

The Chief of the Naval Staff congratulated the passing-out cadets and advised them to serve the country and Navy with pride.

Later, talking to reporters, Dhowan said all measures have been taken to see that "while we induct more officers, do not compromise on the quality of our training."

When asked about the shortage of officers and sailors, he said the shortages were overcome by optimum utilization of resources.

"...while we are overcoming the shortages, every single officer, every single sailor at the Navy will do the work of two people so that we can overcome the shortages," he said.