Time Running Out to Rescue Crew of KRI Nanggala

Name: Time Running Out to Rescue Crew of KRI Nanggala
Uploaded: 2021-04-23T03:32:28Z
Duration: 20 min 32 s
Description: The search for the KRI Nanggala submarine is running at full speed. The 53 crew members must be evacuated before the oxygen supply on the ship is expected to run out on Saturday morning.

The search for the KRI Nanggala submarine is running at full speed. The 53 crew members must be evacuated before the oxygen supply on the ship is expected to run out on Saturday morning.

KOMPAS TEAM

· 5 minutes read

BADUNG, KOMPAS — The best efforts are underway to save the 53 crew members of the KRI Nanggala-402 submarine that sank north of Bali Island. The ship must be found immediately and all of its crew members evacuated before the oxygen reserves on the ship are expected to run out on Saturday (4/24/2021) morning.

"The government will continue to do its best to rescue all crew members," President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said on Thursday (22/4).

Akhyar Tarfi, a resident of Banda Aceh city in Aceh Province, continued to monitor the search process for the KRI Nanggala, because his younger brother, Lt. Col. (Marine) Irfan Suri, is on the submarine. "Our family is praying for Irfan\'s safety," said Akhyar.

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Col. (Marine) Kicky Salvachdie, cousin of Col. (Marine) Harry Setiawan, commander of the Fleet II Submarine Command who also joined the KRI Nanggala’s deployment, said the extended family was praying for the ship to be found immediately and for all crew members to be safe.

The submarine is thought to have disappeared in waters about 95 kilometers north of Bali Island while it was being prepared for training on Wednesday (21/4). The German-made ship produced in 1979 is believed to have experienced a total blackout during the dive and to have fallen into a trough at a depth of 600-700 meters below sea level.

At the location, not far from the dive point, the search team on Wednesday found an oil spill that is thought to have originated from the KRI Nanggala. As of Thursday (22/4), five warships and one Panther HS 4211 helicopter continued to search for the KRI Nanggala in the sea north of Bali. However, KRI Nanggala has yet to be located.

Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Yudo Margono said in Badung, Bali, on Thursday morning that the team had found an object with high magnetism at a depth of 50-100 meters. The object was in a floating state. The finding still needed to be verified by KRI Rigel and KRI Pulau Rimau, which are equipped with subsea search capabilities.

"Hopefully, this [source of] magnetism is KRI Nanggala," he said.

Hopefully it can be found soon and oxygen reserves are still adequate.

Yudo said that, in a blackout, the oxygen on the KRI Nanggala could still supply the crew members for up to 72 hours. Thus, the submarine crew\'s oxygen supply could last until Saturday morning, because the last contact before the KRI Nanggala dived was Wednesday at 3:46 p.m.

"Hopefully it can be found soon and oxygen reserves are still adequate," he said.

Fraught with challenges

The main analyst for political security of the Indonesian Laboratory 2045 (Lab45), Iis Gindarsah, said search and rescue operations for submarines were challenging, as seekers were faced with highly changeable underwater pressure, currents and temperatures. Submerged targets also meant search requirements were very different when compared to on-land search efforts.

In the midst of the challenges, a senior researcher in marine engineering at Surabaya-based Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS), Wisnu Wardhana, said one of the urgently needed resources were robotic submarines (remotely operated underwater vehicles) "to ascertain the location of the submarine and its condition”.

The ship must be found immediately [and we need to know] about the conditions, especially the fate of the crew members.

With time passing, said Wisnu, the Indonesian Military (TNI) needed to regularly update the families of the crew members through its crisis center. "The ship must be found immediately [and we need to know] about the conditions, especially the fate of the crew members, because the life support systems in submarines are limited," said Wisnu.

TNI Information Center head Maj. Gen. Achmad Riad said all equipment resources would be deployed to speed up the discovery of the location of the KRI Nanggala. The Singapore Navy submarine search vessel is expected to arrive on April 24, while a similar vessel from the Malaysian Navy is expected to arrive on April 26. The TNI also received offers of assistance from a number of other countries.

Achmad also said that the crisis center command posts for the search for the KRI Nanggala was to be located at the Surabaya Fleet II Command Headquarters and the Banyuwangi Navy Base in East Java.

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Singapore\'s Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen, via his Facebook account, said the rescue ship MV Swift Rescue was immediately deployed to the Bali Strait on Wednesday afternoon, after the TNI had asked for help to find the KRI Nanggala.

On to the website of the Singapore Ministry of Defense, the MV Swift Rescue is referred to as a submarine support and rescue vessel that has a rescue submarine capable of diving up to 500 meters. Under certain conditions, the depth can reach 700 meters. The submarine is capable of carrying a maximum of 17 passengers in one go.

Meanwhile, the deputy chairman of House of Representatives Commission I, Utut Adianto, said the case of the KRI Nanggala was a strong signal that a rejuvenation of Indonesia\'s primary weaponry system (alutsista) is urgent.

(BOW/SYA/EDN/GER/COK/BRO/AIN/NIK)

Editor:

Syahnan Rangkuti

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