Rescue vessels begin search for missing Indonesian submarine

 

An Indonesian submarine with 53 personnel on board has gone missing in deep waters during a training exercise, with a submarine rescue vessel from Singapore already on its way to assist in the search.

The German-built Type 209 diesel-electric submarine KRI Nanggala was declared missing in the early hours of Wednesday morning local time in waters north of the Indonesian resort island of Bali after it failed to report the results of a torpedo drill it was undertaking at the time, according to an Indonesian navy spokesman quoted by Reuters.

Indonesia’s military chief, Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, added that neighboring Singapore and Australia had been asked to provide assistance in locating the missing submarine, with ship tracking software showing the former’s submarine rescue vessel MV Swift Rescue already sailing southwards towards Bali as of Wednesday afternoon local time.The southeast Asian island nation signed a submarine rescue agreement with Indonesia in 2012 and has similar agreements with several other navies, including the United States, to render submarine rescue assistance in the region should a need for such services arise.

The MV Swift Rescue, which is operated by the Singaporean navy but manned by civilian contractors, is equipped with a Deep Search and Rescue Six (DSAR 6) submersible, which is based on James Fisher Defence’s DSAR 500 Class submarine rescue vehicle.