BALI – Hopes of rescuing dozens aboard a missing Indonesian submarine faded today as its oxygen reserves are believed to have run out, turning the focus to retrieving the stricken vessel from waters off here.
As hundreds of military personnel took part in a frantic hunt for the KRI Nanggala 402, authorities said the German-built craft was equipped with enough oxygen for only three days after losing power.
But that deadline passed early today with still no sign of the missing vessel and its 53 crew.
“There’s been no progress yet,” said Navy spokesman Julius Widjojono.
“We are still combing the area.”
The submarine – one of five in Indonesia’s fleet – disappeared early Wednesday during live torpedo training exercises off the Indonesian holiday island.
Despite hopes for a miracle, an oil spill spotted where the submarine is thought to have submerged pointed to possible fuel-tank damage, fanning fears of a deadly disaster.
“The oil spill is a bad sign,” said retired French vice-admiral Jean-Louis Vichot.
“If it’s from the submarine, then it is probably the end.”
There were concerns that the submarine could have broken apart as it sunk to depths reaching 700m – well below what it was built to withstand.
The vessel was scheduled to conduct the training exercises when it asked for permission to dive. It lost contact shortly after.
Authorities have not offered possible explanations for the submarine’s sudden disappearance or commented on questions about whether the decades-old vessel was overloaded.
Neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia as well as the United States and Australia were among nations helping in the hunt with nearly two dozen warships deployed to scour a search zone covering about 34 sq km.
Australia’s HMAS Ballarat arrived today with a US P-8 Poseidon aircraft also helping to look for the craft.
Singapore’s MV Swift Rescue – a submarine rescue vessel – is expected later today.
On Thursday, Indonesia’s military said it had picked up signs of an object with high magnetism at a depth of between 50m and 100m, bolstering hopes of finding the submarine.
But the passing of today’s oxygen deadline is likely to add the Southeast Asian archipelago to a list of countries struck by fatal submarine accidents.
Among the worst was the 2000 sinking of the Kursk, the pride of Russia’s Northern Fleet.
That submarine was on manoeuvres in the Barents Sea when it sank with the loss of all 118 aboard. An inquiry found a torpedo had exploded, detonating all the others.
Most of its crew died instantly but some survived for several days before suffocating.
In 2003, 70 Chinese naval officers and crew were killed, apparently suffocated, in an accident on a Ming-class submarine during exercises in 2003.
Five years later, 20 people were killed by poisonous gas when a fire extinguishing system was accidentally activated on a Russian submarine being tested in the Sea of Japan.
And in 2018, authorities found the wreckage of an Argentine submarine that had gone missing a year earlier with 44 sailors aboard. – AFP, April 24, 2021
