Indonesia: Missing sub’s oxygen will last until Saturday
JAKARTA (Reuters) – The sailors aboard a missing Indonesian submarine have enough oxygen to last until Saturday, aboard a vessel that had been in good condition, the country’s defense chiefs said on Thursday, as the search for the submarine continued.
There were no signs of the KRI Nanggala-402, with 53 crew aboard as of Thursday afternoon, where a search and rescue mission was ongoing in calm weather conditions.
Yudo Margono, the navy chief of staff, said that there would be enough oxygen for the sailors to last until Saturday, and that the submarine had been cleared for use.
“The submarine has received a letter of feasibility from the navy,” he said.
“It was ready for battle.” Margono was speaking alongside the chief of Indonesia’s military and Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto at a news conference in Bali, a day after the 44-year-old submarine went missing while conducting a torpedo drill north of the island.
The 1,395-ton vessel was built in Germany in 1977, according to the Defense Ministry, and joined the Indonesian fleet in 1981. It underwent a two-year refit in South Korea that was completed in 2012.
Prabowo acknowledged it was “imperative that we should modernize our defense equipment faster.” He did not suggest there were any problems with the vessel.
An aerial search found an oil spill near the submarine’s dive location, and two navy vessels with sonar capability had been deployed to assist in the search, officials said.
Yudo also said authorities had found an item with “high magnetic force” floating at a depth of 50 to 100 m.
Earlier, navy spokesman Julius Widjojono told KompasTV that the diesel-powered submarine that runs on electric batteries while submerged could sustain a depth of 250-500 m.
“Anything more than that can be pretty fatal, dangerous,” the spokesman told KompasTV.
The seas in the area are shallower than in other parts of the archipelago but can still reach depths of more than 1,500 m.
In a statement on Wednesday, the navy said “it was possible that during static diving, a blackout occurred so control was lost and emergency procedures cannot be carried out and the ship falls to a depth of 600700 m.”
Indonesia said a number of countries in the region had responded to requests for assistance.