The chances of saving the 53 men aboard a missing Indonesian submarine fell sharply on Saturday April 24 morning, the authorities fearing that they have at this stage exhausted all their oxygen resources.
Hundreds of soldiers and twenty boats have been mobilized since Wednesday to locate the KRI Nanggala 402, a 40-year-old submersible, which has not responded since a dive north of the island of Bali.
The navy had estimated at seventy-two hours the maximum reserves of oxygen available to the crew in the event of a power failure and this deadline was crossed early around 2 a.m. local on Saturday morning (8 p.m. in Paris, Friday evening), making their survival unlikely.
“There is no progress yet. I hope we will find him this afternoon. We are still examining the area “, said Julius Widjojono, the spokesman for the navy.
Fear of dislocation of the submarine
The Indonesian navy says it detected a “Object” unidentified, strongly magnetic located between 50 and 100 meters deep, and seeks to locate it more precisely to verify if it is the submersible. An oil slick spotted in the area where the submersible plunged gives rise to fears of a possible rupture of the reservoir, or even a dislocation of the submarine, according to experts. Military authorities initially announced that the submersible could have sunk to a depth of 700 meters, a much greater depth than that for which it was designed.
The German-made submarine had requested permission to dive for military exercises including torpedo fire, before disappearing.
About twenty Indonesian warships are taking part in the search, with the help of the United States, which has sent airborne troops, while an Australian navy ship has arrived in the area awaiting a second. Reinforcements from India and Malaysia as well as a Singaporean vessel specializing in submarine rescue, the MV Swift Rescue, are also expected.