Indonesia seeks international help in search for lost submarine

Malaysia, Singapore and India are sending specialised rescue ships to help Indonesia search for a submarine with 53 crew members that has gone missing in deep water near Bali.

The Indonesian navy lost contact with the submarine, the diesel-powered KRI Nanggala-402, during a torpedo-firing exercise on Wednesday.

The armed forces said a search squad involving ships and a helicopter found oil spills and detected the smell of diesel fuel in several locations, but it “cannot be concluded that it is submarine fuel”. 

“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 Indonesian navy said on Wednesday. 

Indonesia’s navy operates five submarines, two of which, like the KRI Nanggala-402, were built in Germany, with the balance in South Korea.

Jakarta faces challenges guarding Indonesia’s vast maritime borders, especially in the South China Sea, where Beijing is becoming increasingly assertive about competing claims with other countries.

Singapore on Wednesday dispatched its submarine rescue vessel to the search site 1,500km away, Ng Eng Hen, the city state’s defence minister, wrote on Facebook. The ship included regular crew and a medical team “in the event that hyperbaric care would be needed”, he said. 

Malaysia’s defence ministry said a submarine rescue ship including officers and a medical crew left for Indonesia on Thursday morning.

Indonesia has also asked for help from Australia. Marise Payne, Australia’s foreign minister, told local media that Indonesia operates “very different submarines” but Canberra would “help in any way we can”.

On average, submarines can safely navigate at a maximum depth of about 250 metres, said Frank Owen, secretary at the Submarine Institute of Australia.

He said the Indonesian submarine may have lost the battery power needed to propel it towards the surface.

The 1,395-tonne vessel, which was built four decades ago, was overhauled in South Korea between 2007 and 2012.

That would have brought the 60-metre vessel to “nearly new conditions”, said Owen. But the submarine “is still 40 years old and it’s very difficult to keep everything in pristine conditions”.

Indonesia’s armed forces are procuring seven additional submarines that will be made in Russia and domestically.

The armed forces previously had a fleet of 12 vessels purchased from the Soviet Union.

Additional reporting by Amy Kazmin in New Delhi