![]() ![]() The Nanggala had previous issues with faulty systems or instruments. A thorough and independent investigation to identify its primary cause is urgently needed, as a form of accountability to the perished crew and to prevent a similar tragedy from happening in the future. This tragedy is arguably the Indonesian Navy’s worst peacetime loss, and raises important questions for Indonesia’s defence policymakers. All 53 on board including the Navy’s submarine unit commander perished. Its wreckage was later discovered on 25 April more than 800 metres below sea level. Despite an intensive search and rescue operation involving naval assets from Singapore, Australia, India, Malaysia and the United States, the submarine was unable to be located. On 24 April 2021, Indonesian authorities declared that the Nanggala-402, a Navy submarine that went missing while conducting a naval exercise on 21 April, had sunk. In 2003, 70 Chinese naval officers and crew were killed, apparently suffocated, in an accident on a Ming-class submarine during exercises in 2003.įive 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.Īnd in 2018, authorities found the wreckage of an Argentine submarine that had gone missing a year earlier with 44 sailors aboard.Economics, Politics and Public Policy in East Asia and the PacificĪuthors: Sigit S Nugroho and Keoni Indrabayu Marzuki, RSIS ![]() Most of its crew died instantly but some survived for several days - with a few keeping heart-breaking diaries written in blood to their loved ones - before suffocating. An inquiry found a torpedo had exploded, detonating all the others. That submarine was on manoeuvres in the Barents Sea when it sank with the loss of all 118 aboard. While Indonesia has not previously suffered a major submarine disaster, other countries have been struck by accidents in the past.Īmong the worst was the 2000 sinking of the Kursk, the pride of Russia's Northern Fleet. "It's not just about whether there will be enough oxygen, but it's also about the level of carbon dioxide within the interior that could determine the fate of the submariners," he said. Submarines are equipped to prevent carbon dioxide buildup, but if the equipment was damaged that could also pose a serious risk, Koh added. So it will further reduce the oxygen level." ![]() "It could also mean that the reserve tanks for the oxygen might potentially be damaged as well. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. "If there is serious damage on the boat itself, it could potentially mean a few things, for example, there will be very limited spaces for the crew with very limited oxygen," said Collin Koh, a naval affairs specialist and research fellow at the S. India said Thursday it had sent a ship to assist in the hunt.īut hopes of finding the crew alive were fading fast. Neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia have already dispatched ships that are expected to arrive at the weekend, including the city-state's MV Swift Rescue - a submarine rescue vessel. On Thursday, the US military said it would send airborne teams to help in the search, while Australia said two ships were on their way to assist. The German-built vessel was scheduled to conduct live torpedo exercises when it asked for permission to dive. There are also concerns that the submarine could have sunk to depths believed to be as much as 700 metres - well below what it was built to withstand. "We've only got until 3:00 am tomorrow (Saturday) so we're maximising all of our efforts today," said Indonesian military spokesman Achmad Riad.īut an oil spill spotted where the submarine was thought to have submerged pointed to possible fuel-tank damage, fanning fears of a deadly disaster. Ships equipped with sonar-tracking equipment were deployed in the hopes that the object could be the KRI Nanggala 402, which was equipped with oxygen reserves that could last until early Saturday, authorities said. Late Thursday, the military said it picked up signs of an unidentified object with high magnetism at a depth of between 50 and 100 metres. The ramped-up hunt comes as Australia and the United States were set to join the search off the coast of Bali where the sub disappeared more than two days ago during training exercises. ![]() The Indian Navy's Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel has joined in the search for a decades-old Indonesian navy sub that went missing off the coast of Bali.īALI, Indonesia: Indonesia's desperate search for a missing submarine and its crew of 53 honed in on a radar contact Friday, with just hours to go before the stricken vessel's oxygen reserves ran out. ![]()
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