Parts of Indonesian submarine KRI Nanggala 402, which went missing north of Bali with 53 people on board earlier this week, were found floating in the sea on Saturday, the Indonesian Navy said.
“The components (that have been found) are torpedo tube-straighteners, coolant pipes wrap, a bottle of periscope lubricating oil, prayer mats, and heat-retaining sponges,” the Navy’s Chief of Staff, Admiral Yudo Margono, said at a press conference.
The recovered parts or components are believed to belong to the submarine. The items would not have come out of the submarine had there been no pressure from outside or cracks, Margono said.
Based on the ”authentic evidence” from KRI Nanggala-402, the status of the submarine has been changed from ”sub miss” to ”sub sunk”, which are military terms for ”submarine missing” and ”submarine sunk”, he said.
India, Singapore and Malaysia as well as the United States and Australia were among the nations who helped in the hunt for the submarine, with nearly two dozen warships deployed to scour a search zone covering about 10 square nautical miles.
The search and rescue operation is faced with huge difficulties because of the depth of 850 metres under water.
Built in Germany in 1977, KRI Nanggala was refitted in South Korea in 2012.
