NEW DELHI: India has dispatched a deep submergence rescue vessel (DSRV) to help in the ongoing search and rescue operation for the Indonesian diesel-powered submarine that went missing with 53 sailors on board around the Bali Strait on Wednesday.
The Indian Navy’s DSRV, basically a mini-submarine that dives to “mate’’ with a “disabled’’ submarine to extricate sailors trapped deep underwater, was sent on board its “mother ship” Sabarmati from Vizag on Thursday morning.
The DSRV can locate a submarine in distress up to a 1,000-meter depth utilizing its state-of-the-art side scan sonar and a remotely-operated vehicle. After the disabled submarine is successfully located, another submodule of the system called the submarine rescue vehicle (SRV) can “mate” with the disabled submarine to rescue the trapped personnel up to a depth of around 650-metre. The SRV can also be used to provide emergency supplies to the submarine in distress.