The Indonesian navy is scouring the waters off Bali after losing contact with one of its submarines, with 53 crew members on board. The country’s defence ministry says the submarine was due to carry out scheduled torpedo exercises, when it requested permission to dive yesterday morning.
“After permission was given according to the procedure, the submarine lost contact and could not be reached.”
The Bangkok Post reports that a search helicopter has spotted an oil spill in the area where it’s thought the submarine descended. The navy is focusing its search on this area, with spokesman Julius Widjojono saying the spill could mean the body of the vessel has sustained damage. He adds that, while the submarine can dive up to 500 metres below sea level, officials believe it may have exceeded that depth by 100 – 200 metres.
“That oil spill location is the last time we had…
