US Plane Joins Hunt for Indonesian Submarine

Indonesia pressed ahead with a search for a Navy submarine off Bali today, hours after the oxygen supply for 53 crew members aboard is believed to have been exhausted. Now, a United States reconnaissance plane and other nations’ vessels set to join the hunt.

There’s concern the KRI Nanggala 402 may have sunk too deep to reach or recover in time. It lost contact after its last reported dive Wednesday off the resort island, and the navy chief has said it was expected to run out of oxygen early Saturday morning. Indonesia military spokesperson Djawara Whimbo said that they keep will



doing the search until find it and whatever the result.  An American reconnaissance plane, P-8 Poseidon, landed early today and is set to join the search, along with 20 Indonesian ships, a sonar-equipped Australian warship and four Indonesian aircraft.

 

Whimbo said that Singaporean rescue ships are also expected to join today, while Malaysian rescue vessels were due to arrive tomorrow bolstering the underwater hunt.

 

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has ordered all-out efforts to locate the submarine and asked Indonesians to pray for the crew’s safe return.