Indonesia: Missing submarine has enough oxygen for 72 hours navy
Dozens of people are on board Indonesia s KRI Nanggala-402 submarine that has gone missing. Officials believe the vessel, designed to dive to up to 500 meters, might be some 700 meters underwater.
The KRI Nanggala-402 was built in West Germany in in the late 1970s
Indonesia’s missing submarine with 53 people on board has enough oxygen for 72 hours, the Navy said on Thursday.
Authorities are searching for the KRI Nanggala-402 submarine which stopped responding early Wednesday.
The vessel is believed to be 700 meters underwater, according to the Navy. It is designed to dive to depths of 250-500 meters. Beyond that it s dangerous, Navy spokesman Admiral Julius Widjojono was quoted as saying by DPA news agency.
He said rescuers found an unidentified object with high magnetism in the area and that officials hope it’s the submarine.
The navy believes the submarine sank to a depth of 600-700 meters (2,000-2,300 feet) much deeper than its collapse depth estimated at 200 meters (656 feet) by a firm that refitted the vessel in 2009-2012.
Ahn Guk-hyeon, an official from South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, said the submarine would collapse if it goes deeper than around 200 meters because of pressure. He said his company upgraded much of the Indonesian submarine’s internal structures and systems but it lacks latest information about the vessel.
As Indonesia searches for sub, many fear it s too deep to be rescued
April 22, 2021 / 8:01 AM / AP
Jakarta, Indonesia Indonesia s navy ships on Thursday were intensely searching for a submarine that likely fell too deep to retrieve, making survival chances for the 53 people on board slim. Authorities said oxygen in the submarine would run out by early Saturday. The diesel-powered KRI Nanggala 402 was participating in a training exercise Wednesday when it missed a scheduled reporting call. Officials reported an oil slick and the smell of diesel fuel near the starting position of its last dive, about 60 miles north of the resort island of Bali, though there has been no conclusive evidence that they are linked to the submarine.