Indonesian navy submarine with 53 people on board missing
Contact with vessel was lost yesterday; aerial search finds oil spill near dive site
JAKARTA Indonesian rescuers searching for a submarine that went missing with 53 people on board found an oil spill yesterday near its dive location, the authorities said.
The 44-year-old submarine, KRI Nanggala-402, was conducting a torpedo drill north of Bali but failed to relay the results as expected, a navy spokesman said.
An aerial search found an oil spill near the submarine's dive location and two navy vessels with sonar capability have been deployed to assist the hunt, the Defence Ministry said.
A ministry statement said requests for assistance were sent and Australia, Singapore and India had responded.
CNN Indonesia reported that Indonesian navy official Julius Widjojono said he suspected the submarine had descended to a depth of 600-700m.
"We are still searching in the waters of Bali,96km from Bali, (for) 53 people," military chief Hadi Tjahjanto told Reuters in a text message.
He said contact with the vessel was lost at 4.30am yesterday.
There will be a briefing to share further information on the search today from Bali, a spokesman said.
Military analyst Soleman Ponto said it is too early to determine the fate of the submarine conclusively.
"We don't know yet whether the communication equipment is broken or the submarine has sunk. We have to wait for at least three days," he said.
The 1,395-tonne KRI Nanggala-402 was built in Germany in 1977, according to the Defence Ministry, and joined the Indonesian fleet in 1981. It underwent a two-year refit in South Korea that was completed in 2012.
Indonesia in the past operated a fleet of 12 submarines purchased from the Soviet Union to patrol the waters of its sprawling archipelago.
But now it has a fleet of only five, including two German-built Type 209 submarines and three newer South Korean vessels.- REUTERS
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