Indonesian Submarine Found at Bottom of Bali Strait

The KRI Nanggala 402 submarine was one of the oldest submarines in active service. (Flickr)

Search teams found the missing Indonesian KRI Nanggala 402 submarine at the bottom of the Bali Strait on April 25, confirming the death of all 53 crewmen. The Nanggala fell out of contact during a torpedo training exercise on April 21. More than 20 vessels and five aircraft searched for the Nanggala last week until the Rigel warship located it with sonar. The U.S., Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and India aided the search for the missing vessel, finding debris on April 24 near the submarine’s last known location. The search team came across items from the Nanggala, including prayer mats, part of the hull, and an escape immersion suit worn only during emergencies. Navy Chief of Staff Yudo Margono explained that “since we found [the suit] outside, we believe that the crew were going to wear it, but they had no chance.” 

Family members of the crew had held out hope that they survived, but after finding debris and realizing that oxygen supplies had expired, Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto confirmed on April 25 that all on board had died. The same day, Indonesian President Joko Widodo sent his condolences to the families, saying, “This tragedy shocked us all. Not only the families of the 53 crew members… but also the entire Indonesian people.” 

The submarine had settled 850 meters below the surface despite its design not permitting dives exceeding 500 meters. The wreck, moreover, had fractured into three pieces. Authorities have yet to determine the cause of the tragedy, though theories including electrical failure and catastrophic flooding abound. Margono did, however, denied that the submarine had sunk as a result of either an explosion or human error, claiming, “This is not a human error, but an environmental factor.”  

The Indonesian navy plans to recover the bodies of the crew members as well as the vessel itself to conduct a thorough investigation, though Margono cautioned that the recovery process would be dangerous and difficult. 

The Nanggala stood as one of the Indonesian navy’s five submarines. Built in Germany in the 1970s and in service since 1981, it was one of the oldest operational submarines in the world.