Indonesia: Navy submarine with 53 people on board disappeared

SANAA, April 22 (YPA) – The Indonesian army announced, on Wednesday, the loss of a submarine belonging to the navy near the resort island of Bali with 53 people on board. Military commander Hadi Tejjanto said that the submarine, “KBRI Nangala 402”, was participating in a training exercise on Wednesday when contact with it was lost.

Tejjanto added that he believed the submarine disappeared in waters 60 miles (95 km) north of Bali.

“The navy has deployed warships to search the area and has requested assistance from Singapore and Australia, which have submarine rescue ships,” he says.

Local media reported that the navy believed the submarine sank in a basin 700 meters deep. There was no immediate information about the reason for her disappearance.

The German-made submarine, which has been in service since the early 1980s, was training for a missile-launch maneuver that was scheduled to take place Thursday in the presence of “Tahiganto” and other military leaders.

Indonesia has a fleet of five submarines and plans to operate at least eight submarines by 2024.