Associated Press writer Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report. Tarigan reported from Jakarta, Indonesia. Margano was also quoted in the Indonesian media as stating that the submarine was well within its personnel capacity, normally having the capability to embark 50 personnel along with seven navy. Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago nation with more than 17,000 islands, has faced growing challenges to its maritime claims in recent years, including numerous incidents involving Chinese vessels near the Natuna islands. ![]() The German-built diesel-powered KRI Nanggala 402 had been in service in Indonesia since 1981 and was carrying 49 crew members and three gunners as well as its commander, the Indonesian Defense Ministry said. Indonesian President Joko Widodo had ordered all-out efforts to locate the submarine and asked Indonesians to pray for the crew’s safe return. ![]() Singaporean rescue ships were also expected Saturday, while Malaysian rescue vessels were due to arrive Sunday, bolstering the underwater hunt, officials said earlier Saturday.įamily members had held out hopes for survivors but there were no sign of life from the vessel. The vessel lost contact as it was conducting a weapons exercise, reportedly a torpedo drill, but the navy said an electric failure may have left the sub helpless to execute emergency procedures to resurface after a dive.An American reconnaissance plane, a P-8 Poseidon, landed early Saturday and had been set to join the search, along with 20 Indonesian ships, a sonar-equipped Australian warship and four Indonesian aircraft. The cause of the sub's disappearance is still not certain. ![]() Despite its age, the submarine went through a refit in 2012 in South Korea, and the Indonesian navy insists it had been certified as seaworthy. The KRI Nanggala 402 was built in the late 1970s and has been in service in the Indonesian navy since the early '80s. In recent days, however, searchers said they discovered an unidentified object with high magnetism at 50 to 100 meters (about 165 to 330 feet) below the surface in the vicinity where they believe the submarine disappeared. Indonesia’s navy is searching for a submarine that went missing north of the resort island of Bali with 53 people onboard. But officials said it may have descended much deeper, as far down as 2,300 feet. Officials have indicated that the KRI Nanggala 402 has a maximum operating depth in the range of 200 to 250 meters (about 655 to 820 feet). The video, filmed a few weeks ago, shows the sailors singing an Indonesian. Indonesian military officials are holding out hope that a rescue is still possible, but they expressed concern shortly after the submarine went missing that it may have gone too deep to recover. The Indonesian navy has released a poignant video showing the crew of a sunken submarine singing on board their vessel. India on Thursday dispatched a deep submergence rescue vessel to help in the search, joining Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and other countries that have promised to assist in the search and any possible rescue.īut with the clock ticking, the help is likely to arrive too late. Numerous Indonesian navy and other ships and a patrol plane were involved in Friday's last-ditch search, focusing on an area where an oil slick was found earlier in the week, although officials have stressed there's no conclusive evidence it came from the submarine. "We will maximize the effort today, until the time limit tomorrow 3 a.m.," Maj. Students and teachers at an Islamic school in Surabaya, Indonesia, pray Friday for the 53 crew members aboard an Indonesian navy submarine that went missing this week off Bali during training exercises.Īn Indonesian military spokesman said officials would push the search hard in the hours before the navy has calculated that oxygen aboard the sub will run out – estimated at about 3 a.m.
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