Defence minister extends support to Indonesia over rescue of missing submarine
Apr 22, 2021
New Delhi [India], April 22 : Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday extended full support to Indonesia over the news of missing submarine Nanggala and its crew members.
"Spoke to the Defence Minister of Indonesia, General Prabowo Subianto over the phone and shared my pain over the news of missing submarine Nanggala and its crew members. India is extending its full support to the ongoing Indonesian rescue efforts," the Defence Minister tweeted.
An Indonesian submarine, with 53 people on board lost contact with the navy after a training drill near Bali Island on Wednesday.
The Indonesian military said it has sought help from Singapore and Australia in the search mission, Chinese state media agency Xinhua reported.
The German-made KRI Nanggala-402 submarine was reportedly conducting a drill in waters north of Bali when it lost contact early Wednesday. According to local media, the submarine is feared to have sunk about 60 miles off the northern coast of Bali.
Indian Navy dispatched its Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel (DSRV) on to assist Indonesian Navy in search and rescue efforts for the Indonesian Submarine which was reported missing on Wednesday.
According to an official release, on 21 April, an alert was received by the Indian Navy regarding the missing Indonesian submarine. The submarine was reportedly exercising in a location 25 miles North of Bali with a crew of 53 personnel.
"India is amongst the few countries in the world capable of undertaking Search and Rescue of a disabled submarine through a DSRV. Indian Navy's DSRV system can locate a submarine upto 1000 m depth utilising its state of the art Side Scan Sonar (SSS) and Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV)," the Navy release added.
