Published on: Thursday, April 22, 2021
By: AP
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Indonesian Navy ship KRI Singa sails to take part in the search for missing submarine KRI Nanggala. (Photo: AP)
JAKARTA: Indonesia’s navy ships on Thursday were intensely searching for a submarine that likely fell too deep to retrieve, making survival chances for the 53 people on board slim. Neighboring countries rushed their rescue ships to support the complex operation.
The diesel-powered KRI Nanggala 402 was participating in a training exercise Wednesday when it missed a scheduled reporting call. Officials reported an oil slick and the smell of diesel fuel near the starting position of its last dive, about 96 kilometers (60 miles) north of the resort island of Bali, though there has been no conclusive evidence that they are linked to the submarine.
Time Running Out To Rescue 53 Sailors Aboard Missing Indonesian Submarine
Thursday, April 22, 2021
An Indonesian navy ship searches for the submarine KRI Nanggala 402 that went missing this week in the waters off Bali.
Eric Ireng / AP
Rescuers scouring the Bali Sea for a stricken Indonesian submarine with 53 sailors aboard are hoping the crew could still be alive, but as the hours since the vessel s disappearance tick by, the chances of survival grow increasingly slim.
The Indonesian navy chief of staff, Adm. Yudo Margono, told reporters Thursday that a search of the vicinity where the diesel-powered KRI Nanggala 402 is believed to have gone down, about 60 miles north of the resort island of Bali, had located an object with high magnetic force floating at a depth of 50 to 100 meters (about 165 to 330 feet). We hope it is the KRI Nanggala, he said.
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He said rescuers found an unidentified object with high magnetism at a depth of 50 to 100 meters (165 to 330 feet) and that officials hope it’s the submarine.
The navy believes the submarine sank to a depth of 600-700 meters (2,000-2,300 feet), much deeper than its estimated collapse depth.
Ahn Guk-hyeon, an official from South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, which refitted the vessel in 2009-2012, said the submarine would collapse if it goes deeper than around 200 meters (655 feet) because of pressure. He said his company upgraded much of the submarine’s internal structures and systems but lacks recent information about the vessel.