Missing submarine wreckage found: all crew killed

The Nanggala started a torpedo exercise north of Bali last Wednesday. Soon after the exercise began, the submarine was lost. Oxygen was on board for the crew until Friday night. In a race against time, the Indonesian navy searched for the Nanggala, with help from Australia, the United States, Malaysia, Singapore and India. Now Indonesian Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto reports that the wreck has been found.

On Saturday morning an object that looked like a submarine was discovered with sonar equipment. Wreckage and objects pointing to the Nanggala were found in the water, such as torpedo equipment, lubricant for the periscope, a pipe for coolant and prayer mats. The hope of survivors had already gone by then. Not only was the oxygen on board exhausted, the boat was also at 850 meters, while it can only dive 500 meters. The floating objects indicate that the hull has been cracked by the pressure of the water at great depth.

The cause of the shipwreck is unknown. The Nanggala must have sunk quickly and suddenly because the crew stopped sending distress signals. A battery explosion may have occurred or the boat may have been submerged due to a tube failure. If a submarine makes water, the submerged compartment can be protected with a watertight door. But if that fails due to a technical fault or an explosion on board, the boat can quickly sink. The KRI-Nanggala 402, powered by a diesel engine, was built in Germany in 1977 and completely overhauled in South Korea in 2012.

Submarine accidents are relatively rare, but often end disastrous. In 2000, the Russian submarine Kursk sank in the Barents Sea after explosions on board. Most of the crew were killed immediately, but 23 men died later of lack of oxygen.

In 2017, an Argentinian submarine went missing in the Atlantic Ocean. The wreck was found almost a year later at a depth of 800 meters. In 2005, the seven crew members of a Russian mini-submarine were rescued three days after their boat became entangled in fishing nets and cables in the Pacific. They only had oxygen in stock for six hours.

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