What We Know So Far About The Hunt For Indonesia’s Missing Submarine

Fears are growing over the fate of 53 people on an Indonesian submarine that went missing off the coast of Bali in the early hours of Wednesday, as multiple countries offer assistance in the frantic rescue operation.

The missing KRI Nanggala-402, a decades-old German-made submarine, was participating in live torpedo drills when authorities lost contact with it at 4:25 a.m., Indonesian military spokesman Achmad Riad told local media.

In a statement, the Indonesian Ministry of Defense said the submarine asked for permission to submerge at 3:00 a.m. local time. Not long after permission was granted, the submarine ceased communications.

The search mission has now entered a second day, and time is a factor based on oxygen supplies on board.

But as of Thursday afternoon there was still no response from the crew members. 

In a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Indonesian navy chief of staff Adm. Yudho Margono said the submarine should have resurfaced at 5:15 a.m. if following schedule.

“Oxygen supply can last up to 72 hours or until Saturday,” Margono told reporters. 

Indonesia’s defense minister Prabowo Subianto said, “We pray and hope we can find them immediately.”

Indonesia has deployed warships, divers, and other search and rescue personnel. A search helicopter spotted an oil spill around the area early Wednesday, according to the defense ministry.

“We are continuing the search. We have detected the area which is where the oil spilled yesterday,” Indonesian Navy spokesman First Adm. Julius Widjojono told local media. “At the moment we’re not sure about the condition of [the] 53 crew onboard.” 

According to the Indonesian navy, the submarine can reach depths of 250 to 500 meters (about 1,600 feet).

“If it went down more than that [250-500 meters], it could be pretty fatal. Dangerous,” Widjojono said.

Yes, many are stepping up. Singapore, Australia, and India have pledged to help look for the KRI Nanggala and its crew.

On Wednesday, Singapore’s navy dispatched the city-state’s MV Swift Rescue submarine to the waters off the popular tourist island.

“The site for search operations, near Bali, is more than 1,500 kilometers [about 930 miles] away and waters are deep, which is why MV Swift Rescue sailed off as soon as she could,” Singapore defense minister Ng Eng Hen said in a Facebook post. 

“Our military ties with Indonesia are very close, built up over the years of bilateral exercises and engagements at all levels. It is only natural that we do whatever we can to assist in times like this,” he added.

Australia has expressed concern and offered Indonesia support “in any way we can.”

“We are obviously very concerned about these reports. It’s very distressing for families and particularly for the Indonesian Navy,“ Foreign Minister Marise Payne was quoted as saying. 

The United States, Germany, France, Russia, and Turkey have also offered to help.

There are many hurdles. For starters, the aging submarine does not have proper equipment that would allow crew to escape while the vessel is submerged, according to Frank Owen, secretary of the Submarine Institute of Australia.

“If the submarine is on the seabed and if it’s in the depth of water that’s there, then there will be little they can do to actually get the people out,” he told ABC News. 

“The only way to get the people out is to actually salvage the submarine and that’s a lengthy process,” he added, meaning authorities would have to lift it out of the water first. 

Owen suggested Australia could send a remote operations vehicle to inspect the submarine underwater once it is found, which could inform decisions on what to do next.

Indonesia once operated a fleet of 12 submarines purchased from the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s. It now has five attack submarines in its fleet, but plans to expand that number to at least 10 in the coming years.

While it is involved in no major conflicts, the country is a nation of more than 15,000 islands.

Tensions between many Southeast Asian countries and Beijing over areas of the South China Sea have also contributed to security concerns in the region.

This is a developing story and may be updated.