Rescue ships find more authentic evidences of wreckage from Indonesia's missing submarine

A military officer shows a video of the sunk Indonesian Navy submarine KRI Nanggala-402 recorded by Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) during a press conference at Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali, Indonesia, April 25, 2021. (Photo by Bisinglasi/Xinhua)

JAKARTA, April 26 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian Military (TNI) on Sunday afternoon said that rescue ships have found the location and more authentic evidence of wreckage of the missing submarine KRI Nanggala-402 in the ocean floor off Bali's northern coast.

At a televised joint press conference, TNI said that one of its military ship KRI Rigel last night performed a more accurate scan of the location using multibeam sonar and magnetometer and produced more detailed underwater imagery, while Singaporean ship MV Ship Rescue also lowered its remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to visually amplify underwater imagery using a camera.

"We have obtained images that have been confirmed as part of the KRI Nanggala-402 including the rear vertical rudder, anchor, outside parts of the pressure hull, the embossed diving rudder, other parts of the ship including the crew's safety suit MK11," TNI Chief Hadi Tjahjanto said.

The military chief said that based on this authentic evidence, the KRI Nanggala-402 can be confirmed that it has drowned and all of its crew have died.

"With deep sadness as the TNI Commander, I declare that 53 personnel who were on board the KRI Nanggala-402 have died," Tjahjanto said.

The German-made-submarine lost contact after requesting diving permission to fire the Surface and Underwater Target (SUT) Torpedo at 3:00 a.m. local time on Wednesday.

The ship has 53 people aboard, namely 49 crew members, one commander, and three arsenal personnel.

A military officer shows a video of the sunk Indonesian Navy submarine KRI Nanggala-402 recorded by Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) during a press conference at Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali, Indonesia, April 25, 2021. (Photo by Bisinglasi/Xinhua)

A military officer shows a life jacket believed to be from the sunk Indonesian Navy submarine KRI Nanggala-402 during a press conference at Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali, Indonesia, April 25, 2021. (Photo by Bisinglasi/Xinhua)

An Indonesian Navy ship departs to carry out the search and rescue operation of submarine KRI Nanggala-402 at Tanjung Wangi Port in Banyuwangi, East Java, Indonesia, April 25, 2021. (Photo by Kurniawan/Xinhua)

Indonesian water police officers prepare for the search and rescue operation of submarine KRI Nanggala-402 at Tanjung Wangi Port in Banyuwangi, East Java, Indonesia, April 25, 2021. (Photo by Kurniawan/Xinhua)