Tag Archives: Bali Sea

Grieving relatives pay respects to doomed Indonesian submariners

CELUKAN BAWANG, Indonesia (Reuters) -The Indonesian navy was on Monday trying to work out how it could salvage the remains of a submarine from the bottom of the Bali Sea and retrieve the bodies of the 53 sailors who died onboard.

The German-built KRI Nanggala-402 was discovered lying on the seabed on Sunday broken into at least three parts, four days after it lost contact while preparing to conduct a torpedo drill.

Grieving relatives gathered on the seashore in Bali on Monday to pay their respects to the sailors who perished, and urged the authorities to bring up their bodies from the depths.

Experts say it will be a daunting task to lift the submarine to the surface from the deep water, requiring specialized salvage equipment.

A spokesman for Indonesia’s navy said a retrieval operation was still being discussed with experts and international bodies.

“We will analyze the under water pictures and video, the current, etc. to decide the technology that will be used,” First Admiral Julius Widjojono said.

A sonar scan detected at least three parts of the submarine at a depth of 850 meters (2,789 ft.), far beyond Nanggala’s diving range.

Relatives of crew member I Gede Kartika congregated at Celukan Bawang on Bali’s north coast on Monday. Some carried incense and flowers as they clutched framed photographs of him in his naval uniform. Others rowed out to sea to ceremoniously scatter petals in the water.

“We have already given our son to the government. Now that he has fallen in this operation, we hope the government will return his remains to us after all the official ceremonies,” said Wayan Darmanta, the uncle of the submariner.

Family members of another lost crew member also gathered at the port town of Banyuwangi, which is home to the naval base on Java island where the Nanggala was stationed, to pay their respects.

President Joko Widodo offered his condolences to the relatives and pledged the state would fund the education of the dead sailors’ children.

An international search and rescue effort involving aircraft and specialized naval vessels, including from Singapore, Australia and the United States, had raced against the clock to find the submarine in case it was still intact and before oxygen ran out.

But on Sunday Indonesia’s military chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto confirmed the Nanggala had sunk and all of it crew had died.

(Additional reporting by Yuddy Cahya Budiman in Banyuwangi; Angie Teo and Agustinus Beo Da Costa in Jakarta; Writing by Kate Lamb; Editing by Ed Davies and Angus MacSwan)

Time running out for missing Indonesian submarine as U.S. joins search

By Yuddy Cahya Budiman and Ajeng Dinar Ulfiani

BANYUWANGI, Indonesia (Reuters) -Rescue teams were battling against time on Friday to find a missing Indonesian Navy submarine lost in the Bali Sea with 53 crew, which would be running out of oxygen if not already crushed by water pressure.

Search helicopters and more ships left Bali and a naval base in Java heading to the area where contact was lost with the 44-year-old KRI Nanggala-402 on Wednesday as it prepared to conduct a torpedo drill, with the head of the Indonesian submarine fleet aboard.

If the submarine was still intact, officials said it would only have enough air to last until around dawn on Saturday.

“So far we haven’t found it… but with the equipment available we should be able to find the location,” Achmad Riad, a spokesman for the Indonesian military, told a news conference.

An Indonesian air force pilot said six tonnes of equipment had been flown to a base to help with the search including underwater balloons to help lift a vessel.

Indonesia’s navy said it was investigating whether the submarine lost power during a dive and could not carry out emergency procedures as it descended to a depth of 600-700 meters, well beyond its survivable limits.

An object with “high magnetic force” had been spotted “floating” at a depth of 50-100 meters, Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Yudo Margono said, and an aerial search had earlier spotted an oil spill near the submarine’s last location.

The diesel-electric powered submarine could withstand a depth of up to 500 meters (1,640 ft) but anything more could be fatal, Navy spokesman Julius Widjojono said. The Bali Sea can reach depths of more than 1,500 meters.

One of the people on board was the commander of the Indonesian submarine fleet, Harry Setiawan.

An Indonesian defense expert said the crew could still be found alive.

“But if the submarine is in a 700-metre sea trough, it will be difficult for them to survive because underwater pressure will cause cracks and ruptures of the steel hull,” Connie Rahakundini Bakrie said.

DISTRAUGHT RELATIVES AWAIT NEWS

The submarine joined the Indonesian fleet in 1981, the defense ministry said, and underwent a refit in South Korea completed in 2012. It was said to be in good condition.

“I hope that they will be found alive,” said Berda Asmara, the wife of crew member Guntur Ari Prasetyo, 39, who has sailed on the Nanggala for 10 years.

“We had a video call. He told me that he would go sailing and asked me to pray for him,” she said of the last time they spoke.

Natalie Sambhi, an expert on Indonesian military and security at Verve Research, said the best case scenario was that the submarine was not at a great depth but even then the challenges were immense.

“When you factor in the oxygen levels for the actual number of crew and then the time it takes to locate, assessment of recovery, then engagement in that recovery that timeline looks even longer.”

Australia, India, Malaysia, Singapore and the United States have sent specialized ships or aircraft in response to Indonesian requests for assistance.

The U.S. military is sending a P-8 Poseidon aircraft to assist in the submarine search.

On Friday, the Pentagon said U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had spoken with his Indonesian counterpart and offered additional support, which could include undersea search assets.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi on Thursday the “United States would do everything possible to support Indonesia’s search and rescue effort,” a spokeswoman said.

Two Australian Navy ships were heading for the search area including a frigate with special sonar capabilities, the defense department said.

Indonesia operates five submarines – two German-built Type 209s including Nanggala and three newer South Korean vessels.

It has been seeking to modernize its defense capabilities but some of its equipment is old and there have been fatal accidents in recent years.

(Additional reporting by Sultan Anshori in Denpasar, Agustinus Beo Da Costa and Stanley Widianto in Jakarta, Kate Lamb in Sydney, Colin Packham in Canberra and Idrees Ali in Washington; Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Stephen Coates, Chizu Nomiyama, Andrew Heavens and Barbara Lewis)