Only a handful of salvage organisations would even be capable of such a task. Nevertheless, bringing some 1,300 tonnes of metal back to the surface from a depth of more than 800m remains a formidable proposition. The United States’ 1974 mission codenamed Project “Azorian” involved the covert recovery (from much deeper water) of large components of a sunken Soviet missile-carrying submarine. This is possible and there is some precedent for this. Indonesian authorities hope to salvage Nanggala’s wreckage, according to reports. Indonesian Navy/AP How much recovery is worth the effort? The German-made submarine was reported missing on April 21. Photo released by the Indonesian Navy shows parts of submarine KRI Nanggala on the ocean floor. At 800m, Nanggala had no chance of surviving intact. But the risk of hull collapse increases very rapidly as depth increases. What is known as the “crush depth” will be much more than that. Submarines such as Nanggala have an individual safe operating depth of at least 260m. There is no hard and fast figure for the exact depth at which this occurs. Regardless of the trigger, the tragic fate of KRI Nanggala would have been sealed once it passed the depth at which its hull and fittings could not withstand the increasing pressure. Material failure is the more likely cause. Submariners, however, have very carefully developed and extensively drilled standard operating procedures. There could have been a fire, something particularly feared by submariners in their enclosed environment. It does not take much loss of buoyancy for a submarine to lose control of its depth. Causes could include a material or mechanical failure leading to catastrophic flooding of one or more compartments. So whatever went wrong likely did so as the submarine was diving.Īt this stage, it is impossible to know what triggered the incident. Nanggala’s discovery so early in the search suggests the boat was near its last reported position. It took one year to find Argentinian submarine San Juan after it sank in 2017. The Indonesian government will work with the International Submarine Escape and Rescue Liaison Office, he said, “because to evacuate the Nanggala submarine we need international cooperation.An image of the wreckage made available by the Indonesian Navy. Tjahjanto extended his deepest condolences to the families of the crew, known as the Golden Shark unit, and said all those on board would be given honors and an increase in rank. Regarding the cause, Margono said “this is not a human error, but a natural/environment factor,” but did not give further details.īriefing journalists Saturday, the admiral said an explosion was not thought to have occurred on the submarine but that heavy pressure on the vessel likely caused it to crack. Normally it is stored inside the box, but since we found it outside we believe that the crew were going to wear it but they had no chance,” he said. “This suit is only used to escape in emergency situations. Yudo Margono said.Īmong the objects found by the search team was a submarine escape immersion suit, he said. The submarine was found at a depth of 850 meters (930 yards) and had broken into three parts, Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Adm. “Based on that authentic proof I declare here that the Nanggala submarine sank and all of the crew died.”Ī rescue ship from Singapore sent a remote operated vehicle to get clearer underwater visual imagery of the sub. “We found and confirmed an image of Nanggala submarine parts, like horizontal steering, anchor, exterior body, vertical steering, and other submarine parts like safety suits for crew,” he said. The MV Swift Rescue ship from Singapore then sent a remote operated vehicle (ROV) to get clearer underwater visual imagery, he said. Indonesia’s Rigel warship scanned the area with sonar, which uses sound waves to locate objects, and a magnetometer, Tjahjanto told a news conference. The news came a day after debris believed to be from the KRI Nanggala-402 submarine was found floating about two miles from the submarine’s last known location in the Bali Strait, leading military officials to change the vessel’s status from missing to sunk. The wreckage of an Indonesian Navy submarine missing since Wednesday has been found on the sea floor and all its 53 crew are confirmed dead, Indonesia military commander Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto said Sunday.
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