MILITÄR
Indonesien vermisst ein U-Boot
April 22, 2021 -
Indonesien, Australien und Singapur suchen nach einem Marine U-Boot, das nördlich der Ferieninsel Bali mit 53 Personen an Bord verschwunden ist. Die KRI Nanggala-402 nahm an einer Trainingsübung teil.
Nanggala was off the coast of Bali when it requested permission to dive to take part in a missile drill -- it subsequently missed a scheduled reporting call.
Rescuers have found an oil slick and the smell of diesel fuel near the starting position of its last dive, about 96 kilometres (60 miles) north of Bali.
Indonesia’s navy chief of staff, Adm. Yudo Margono, told reporters Thursday (April 22) that oxygen in the submarine would run out by Saturday morning. Margono said rescuers had found an unidentified object with high magnetism in the area that could be the boat.
The navy said it believes the submarine sank to a depth of 600-700 metres (2,000-2,300 feet) -- much deeper than its collapse depth estimated at 200 metres (656 feet).
Ahn Guk-hyeon, an official at South Korea’s DSME -- the yard that refitted the boat in 2012 -- told the Associated Press that the submarine would collapse if it goes deeper than around 200 metres because of pressure.
Nanggala is a German-built vessel that has been in service since 1981. It is one of two Cakra-class type-209 submarines operated by Indonesia’s navy. According to Janes, an open-source intelligence company, it also has three other type-209 models built more recently in South Korea and Indonesia.
- Indonesia begins construction of submarine base in South China Sea (Janes)
- Indonesia looking for submarine that may be too deep to help (The Associated Press)
- Indonesia races to find missing submarine with 53 aboard (Agence France Presse)
- Indonesia says sailors on missing submarine have oxygen until Saturday (Reuters)