WEB DESK
The hunt for a missing Indonesian submarine with 53 crew onboard has reached a critical phase as the oxygen supply onboard will be exhausted by Saturday afternoon. Contact was lost with the KRI Nanggala-402, a 44 year old vessel on Wednesday during a torpedo drill with the head of the Indonesian submarine fleet aboard.
Rescue aircraft and ships have scoured the sea north of Bali with more navy ships leaving the Indonesian base of Banyuwangi early on Friday to head to the Bali Sea.
Indian Navy yesterday dispatched its Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel, DSRV to assist Indonesian Navy in search and rescue efforts.
India is among the few countries in the world capable of undertaking Search and Rescue of a disabled submarine through a DSRV. Indian Navy’s DSRV system can locate a submarine upto the depth of 1000 metres utilising its state of the art Side Scan Sonar and Remotely Operated Vehicle.
The German-built vessel, KRI Nanggala is one of five submarines operated by Indonesia. It was made in the late 1970s, and underwent a two-year refit in South Korea that was completed in 2012.