Indonesian President Joko Vidodo on Sunday expressed his condolences to the relatives of 53 crew members of the submarine that disappeared off the island of Bali this week.
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He said he had received the latest information from the army and naval leadership about efforts to find the German-built submarine “KRI Nanggala-402”, which lost contact with the navy on Wednesday morning during military exercises.
The submarine had asked permission to dive, but after receiving it, the contacts were cut off.
Searching for the lost submarine by helicopter, an oil slick was noticed in the waters where the submarine could have sunk.
“This incident is a shock to us all. We express our deepest sorrow for this tragedy, especially for the families of the submarine crew,” Jocco said.
The submarine search involved 21 Indonesian military vessels, one Australian vessel, a Singapore submarine rescue vessel and a US aircraft.
The Indonesian army chief said the submarine was supposed to run out of oxygen on Saturday morning because it had reserves for 72 hours.
It is believed that the submarine is located at a depth of 600-700 meters, but it is built for diving to a depth of 250-500 meters.
Finding various objects led the navy to conclude that the submarine had sunk and cracked and all the people had died in it.
The Indonesian armed forces announced last year that they had five submarines built in Germany and South Korea.
The lost submarine was built in 1978 by the German shipbuilding company Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in Kiel.
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