The Indonesian Navy is looking for a missing submarine with 53 people on board who went missing on Wednesday and is seeking help from neighboring Australia and Singapore in the hunt, the Indonesian military chief told Reuters.
The German-made submarine, KRI Nanggala-402, performed a torpedo drill in waters north of the island of Bali, but failed to transmit the results as expected, a navy spokesman said.
“We are still searching in the waters of Bali, 60 miles (96 km) from Bali, for 53 people,” military chief Hadi Tjahjanto told Reuters in a text message.
The military chief confirmed that help had been sought in the search for the submarine and the missing crew members from Australia and Singapore. He said contact with the ship was lost on Wednesday at 4:30 am.
Representatives from Australia and Singapore’s defense departments did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The 1,395-ton KRI Nanggala-402 was built in Germany in 1978, according to the Indonesian Cabinet Secretariat’s website, and underwent a two-year refit in South Korea that was completed in 2012.
Indonesia had in the past purchased a fleet of 12 submarines from the Soviet Union to patrol the waters of the vast archipelago.
But now it has a fleet of just five, including two German-built Type 209 submarines and three newer South Korean ships.
Indonesia has tried to improve its defense capabilities, but some of its equipment still in use is old and there have been fatal accidents in recent years, notably obsolete military transport aircraft.
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