Indonesian navy ships arrive at the naval base in Banyuwangi on April 22, 2021, to join in the search for a decades-old navy submarine that went missing off the coast of Bali with 53 crew aboard during regular exercises. (PHOTO / AFP)
Indonesia's Navy Chief of Staff Yudo Margono said on Thursday that the missing submarine KRI Nanggala-402 would have enough oxygen for 72 hours during a power blackout.
The submarine, with 53 people on board, lost contact in the waters north of Bali Island during a torpedo firing exercise in the early hours of Wednesday, with its last position at about 60 miles north of the tourist Island.
"We lost contact (with the submarine) yesterday (Wednesday) at 3 am, so it can last until 3 am Saturday," Margono told a televised press conference.
So far Indonesia has not detected any signs of the submarine, a day after rescuers found an oil slick a day earlier and as neighbouring countries pledged to help.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on Thursday that he had ordered "optimal" search and rescue efforts for the submarine.
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
The 44-year-old submarine was conducting a torpedo drill north of the island of Bali on Wednesday but failed to relay the results as expected, a navy spokesman said.
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.
Asked about reports of movement detected under water, navy spokesman Julius Widjojono said that based on information received so far the missing submarine had not yet been spotted or heard on sonar, and no contact with the crew had been made.
Earlier, he told KompasTV that the diesel-powered submarine that runs on electric batteries while submerged could sustain a depth of 250-500 metres.
"Anything more than that can be pretty fatal, dangerous," the spokesman told KompasTV.
In a statement on Wednesday, the navy said: "It is 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 600-700 metres."
The seas in the area are shallower than in other parts of the archipelago but can be more than 1,500 metres deep.
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This AFP graphic dated April 22, 2021 shows the map of Indonesia locating an area north of Bali island, where a search is ongoing for a submarine that lost contact Wednesday.
Indonesia said a number of countries in the region had responded to requests for assistance.
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Australia would "help in any way we can".
"We operate very different submarines from this one, but the Australian Defence Force … will work with defence operations in Indonesia to determine what we may be able to do," Payne told ABC radio.
Singapore has deployed a submarine rescue vessel to help, the city-state's defence minister said, and Malaysia was also sending a ship.
Indonesian military chief Hadi Tjahjanto told Reuters in a text message on Wednesday that contact with the vessel was lost at 4:30 am and a search was underway 96 km off Bali.
Its military commander said the vessel was in good condition and battle-ready.
The chief of staff also said weather conditions for the search and rescue efforts were calm.
The oil slick could indicate damage to the vessel or could be a signal from the crew, the navy said.
The 1,395-tonne KRI Nanggala-402 was built in Germany in 1977, according to the defence ministry, and joined the Indonesian fleet in 1981. It underwent a two-year refit in South Korea that was completed in 2012.
Indonesia in the past operated a fleet of 12 submarines bought from the Soviet Union to patrol the waters of its sprawling archipelago.
But now it has a fleet of only five including two German-built Type 209 submarines and three newer South Korean vessels.
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Indonesia has been seeking to modernise its defence capabilities but some of its equipment is old and there have been deadly accidents in recent years.