Indonesia began time trial search of submarine after detecting unidentified object: 53 crew members have 24 hours of oxygen left

Indonesia has stepped up the search and rescue operation, in which 21 ships participated on Friday, of the missing submarine with 53 crew members and which has less than 24 hours of oxygen capacity remaining.

The Indonesian Navy said its ships found an unidentified object at a depth of 50 to 100 meters.

Navy ships and helicopters are painting, using sonar systems, the waters of the north of the island of Bali where contact with the submarine was lost Wednesday morning. KRI Nanggala-402, made in Germany in 1978, during a military maneuver.

“I ordered the military commander, the naval chief of staff, the search and rescue agency and other organs to use all the best forces and efforts to find and rescue the crew submarine, ”Indonesian President Joko Widodo said Thursday. “The main priority is the safety of the 53 crew members ”.

The head of the Indonesian navy, Yudo Margono, said the day before that the ship, which had disappeared in immersion, has a capacity of around 72 hours of oxygen, which means search teams have until the early hours of Saturday to find possible survivors.

“I hope the oxygen will be sufficient,” Margono said at a press conference in Bali.

According to Indonesian military information, the submarine began the dive at 3:46 a.m. local time (8:46 p.m. GMT Tuesday) and about 15 minutes later began loading the number 8 torpedo tube. .

The last communication with the crew took place at 04:25 local time (21:25 GMT Tuesday) and before authorizing the launch of the torpedo, the connection with the ship was lost.

The ships participating in the exercise immediately began the search.

Four hours later crews spotted from a helicopter what appeared to be a fuel leak near the area where the submarine went missing.

The navy chief pointed out that the suspected fuel stain found in the sea could have been due to the submarine floating around 50 or 100 meters away and that the crew members released fuel to lighten the ship.

Another explanation, he added, is that this is due to a ruptured fuel tank causing the aircraft to sink from 500 to 700 meters.

Australia and the United States today joined Singapore and Malaysia in sending ships to cooperate with the Indonesian deployment to locate the submarine.

Indonesia currently has a fleet of five submarines, two of which are German-made, including the missing one, acquired in 1981, and three made in South Korea.

With information from EFE

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