Missing sub has enough oxygen until Saturday

Indonesian defence chiefs say they have about 72 hours to find the missing submarine, KRI Nanggala-402, before her air supply runs out. The submarine went missing in the early hours of yesterday morning about 60 miles off the coast of Bali and has not been heard from since commencing a dive drill.

Singapore and Malaysia have dispatched ships and the US, France, Germany, and Australia have offered assistance. Six warships, a helicopter and around 400 people are involved in the search.

“We know the area but it’s quite deep,” First Admiral Julius Widjojono told the AFP News Agency.

The missing submarine is one of five operated by Indonesia and was built in Germany in the late 1970s. The Nanggala has a safe operating depth of around 300 metres, but experts fear the vessel may have sunk in waters as deep as 600 to 700 metres.

Frank Owen, a submarine rescue expert told the Guardian Newspaper:

“The submarine is designed to go to about 250 metres, and they usually have probably double that as a safety margin, but when you’re starting to get below that, who knows?

“At that depth of water, they could still be in one piece, but there probably would have been lots of buckling. If something fails, then everything fails.

“Its either on the seabed, or it’s on the surface. Or it’s just operating and it’s unaware that people are looking for it. It’s one of three options. It could be a communication failure, but it has been 24 hours since the submarine was lost, so it’s looking less and less likely.”

Admiral Yudo Margono said that an oil slick seen in the vicinity could have been due to damage to the submarine’s tanks or a deliberate effort to stop the vessel sinking by discharging fluids.