Missing Indonesian submarine declared sunk as debris is recovered, all 53 crew members presumed dead
A Indonesian submarine missing since Wednesday cracked open and sank, killing all 53 crew members on board, top military officials said Saturday.
Rescue crews and search teams found parts of Muslim prayer mats believed to be from inside the sub that vanished in the Bali Sea earlier in the week, which suggested a sinking.
The nation’s navy on Saturday officially changed the status for the KRI Nanggala 402 from “sub miss” to “sub sank,” dashing hope that any crew members would be found alive.
Military chief Hadi Tjahjanto during an early-morning press conference said the presence of an oil slick near the site of the submarine’s final dive was further proof the 44-year-old vessel had sunk. Over the last two days, searchers also found parts of a torpedo straightener, a grease bottle believed to be used to oil the periscope, and a broken piece from a coolant pipe that was refitted on the submarine in South Korea in 2012 floating in the depths — some as deep as 2,700 feet, CNN reported.
Navy Chief Yudo Margono said evidence indicated the submarine cracked.
“If it’s an explosion, it will be in pieces,” he said. “The cracks happened gradually in some parts ... If there was an explosion, it would be heard by the sonar.”
The navy previously said it believed the submarine sank to a depth 2,000-2,300 feet, much deeper than its collapse depth of 655 feet, at which point water pressure would be greater than the hull could withstand.
Margono said teams from Indonesia and other countries will evaluate the findings. He added that no bodies have been found so far.
The diesel-powered vessel disappeared early Wednesday morning shortly after getting permission to dive for a training exercise in the Bali Sea. The sub missed its next radio check-in, and was never heard from again.
Officials previously said the submarine’s oxygen supply would have run out early Saturday.
The cause of the disappearance still remained unclear, but the Navy previously posited an electrical failure may have left the submarine unable to carry out emergency procedures to resurface.
Early Saturday, an American reconnaissance plane, a P-8 Poseidon, joined the search for the missing vessel along with 20 Indonesian ships, a sonar-equipped Australian warship and four Indonesian aircraft.
Singaporean rescue ships were also expected Saturday, while Malaysian rescue vessels were set to arrive Sunday to lend support to the underwater hunt.
With News Wire Services
