A submarine has gone missing in the waters around Bali, prompting the Indonesian Navy to mount a search and requesting the help of neighbouring maritime powers Australia and Singapore to do so.
The German-made KRI Nanggala-402 submarine (originally the Type 209 class made in the former West German shipyard Howaldtswerke) was participating in torpedo drills in North Bali waters. However, it did not relay results of the exercise. According to reports, it was in a diving manoeuvre after it stopped communicating.
The submarine had 53 people on board, the Indonesia military chief Hadi Tjahjanto was reported as saying.
According to the BBC, local reports say the sub went missing around 96km from the Bali coast on Wednesday morning.
The Cakra-class is one of two types of submarines operated by the Indonesian Navy (Tentar Nasional Indonesia-Angkatan Laut or TNI-AL), the other being the Nagapasa newer class. The country’s navy has three fleets; the Western fleet in Jakarta, the Central Fleet in Makassar and the Eastern Fleet in Sorong. The KRI Nanggala-402 was part of the eastern fleet and was ordered from Germany in 1977, entering active service in 1981.
