People watch in awe as 55 aircraft make sorties over the Bay in Visakhapatnam

On the blue waters, 60,000 ships stood anchored as part of full rehearsal for PFR

As part of the full rehearsal for the Presidential Fleet Review (PFR) scheduled on February 21, close of 55 aircraft belonging to the aviation wing of the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard made sorties over the Bay of Bengal here on Friday morning.

On the blue waters of the Bay, 60,000 ships from the Indian Navy, the Indian Coast Guard, the Shipping Corporation of India, and the Ministry of Earth Sciences stood anchored in column formation.

The roar of the aircraft flying in formation one after the other made not only the beach- goers but also the people on the road across the city to stop their vehicles and look up the sky.

Almost all the variants of the aircraft that are in possession of the Indian Navy, from the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainers to MIG 29 K fighters and from Boeing P-8I Neptune that specialises in anti-submarine detection and warfare to the Dorniers, participated in the rehearsal. The fighter jets tearing through the blue sky were a treat to watch.

The thick fog that engulfed the city since early in the morning, however, played spoilsport, and many hoped that this would not be the case on February 21.

Though the proceedings will take place at the anchorage, which is about 8 km from the shore, and nothing much will be visible, at least the first line of ships and the flypast can be viewed from the shore to some extent if the sky is clear.

This was the case during the PFR in 2006 and 2016, said Ch. Srinivasa Rao, a resident on the Beach Road.