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Clock is ticking for Indonesia to rescue sailors on missing submarine
The search and rescue operation has a 72-hour window to save the sailors on board the missing submarine.
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Police officers prepare to take part in the search operation for the KRI Nanggala-402 submarine at Celukan Bawang Port, Bali, on Thursday, the vessel went missing during an exercise on Wednesday. (AFP/Sonny Tumbelaka)
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uthorities are racing against time to locate and rescue the 53 sailors on board the KRI Nanggala-402 submarine, which has been missing off Bali since early on Wednesday, with the crew dependant on a rapidly dwindling oxygen supply in the vessel.
Navy chief of staff Adm. Yudo Margono told a press briefing on Thursday that the missing submarine had sufficient oxygen for three days.
“Its oxygen reserve capacity is 72 hours. Since it lost contact at 3 a.m. yesterday [Wednesday], the oxygen supply is expected to last until Saturday at 3 a.m.,” Yudo said in Bali. “Hopefully we can soon locate [the submarine] while the oxygen supplies are still adequate.”
He said the submarine was in good condition and was conducting a drill before the incident, weather conditions in the waters near the location of the exercise were moderate.
The 44-year old submarine made its last contact when asking permission to dive into deeper water for a torpedo-firing exercise. Officials attempted to re-establish contact between 3:46 a.m. and 4:04 a.m. local time but failed to get a response from the crew.
The Navy previously suspected that a blackout occurred on the Nanggala during the dive, causing the crew to lose control of the submarine and preventing the initiation of emergency procedures.
Yudo said the KRI Pulau Rimau-724, one of the vessels deployed to search for the submarine, had detected an object with a “high magnetic level” at a depth of between 50 and 100 meters, but added that further checks needed to be carried out to confirm whether it was the location of the missing submarine.
