Hopes of saving Indonesian submarine crew have faded: after three days of disappearance, oxygen supply is estimated to have run out

Hopes of saving dozens aboard missing Indonesian submarine were dashed on Saturday believing that oxygen reserves have run out, so efforts will focus on recovering the boat from Bali waters.

Hundreds of soldiers participated in a frantic search for the “KRI Nanggala 402”, but authorities say the German-made device was only equipped with oxygen three days after a power failure.

The three days were completed in the early hours of Saturday with no sign of the disappearance of the ship with 53 crew members.

The submarine, one of five in the Indonesian fleet, disappeared early Wednesday during torpedo training exercises off the island of Bali.

At first, a miracle was expected, but a layer of oil detected where the submarine was said to have been submerged raised concerns about damage to the fuel tank, fueling fears of a fatal outcome.

It was feared that the submarine had split as it descended from a depth of 700 meters (2300 feet), much taller than what it was designed for.

The German-made submarine has applied for permission to dive for military exercises. Shortly after, he lost contact.

Authorities did not provide an explanation for the sudden disappearance of the submarine or indicate whether the ship was overloaded.

Various countries, such as Singapore, Malaysia, the United States and Australia participated in the search for the submarine, which mobilized around twenty warships deployed to search an area covering approximately 34 km2.

On Thursday, the Indonesian Navy said it had detected an unidentified strongly magnetic “object” at a depth of 50 to 100 meters., which increased the hope of finding the submarine.

But now, with the oxygen limit depleted, the Southeast Asian archipelago is likely to join the dismal list of countries hit by fatal underwater accidents.

Among them, the nuclear-powered submarine “Kursk”, jewel of the Russian North Fleet, which capsized in 2000 during maneuvers in the Barents Sea (north-west of Russia), causing the death of its 118 members. crew.

In 2017, the submarine of the Argentine fleet “San Juan”, which had 44 sailors on board, disappeared about 400 km off the Argentine coast.

(With information from AFP)

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