Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Navy, Admiral Yudo Margono, has stated that the KRI Nanggala-402 submarine has been declared sunk.
Yudo said that a number of pieces of evidence suspected of being part of the submarine were found during the search.
“With the existence of authentic evidence, which is believed to belong to KRI Nanggala, at this time we indicate that from the stage of sub-missing, we now move to it being classed as sub sunk,” said Yudo.
With the change in the search status to sun rather than missing, Yudo expressed concerns.
“With this statement, I, as the leader of the Indonesian Navy, and on behalf of all Indonesian Navy crew, am also concerned about this incident, especially the residents of Hiu Kencana, residents of the submarine, for what we did not expect,” he said.
In the past few days, debris and items have been found in the vicinity of the ship’s last dive location.
“This is believed to be a part or component that was attached to the submarine, this would not have been lifted off the ship if there had been no outside pressure or cracks in the torpedo launcher,” said Yudo.
Furthermore, a number of pieces of evidence were found in the same area and at the same time as an oil slick in the ocean. The items included a black strip which was the straightener for the torpedo tube, the cooling pipe container, and orange liquid which was lubricant for the periscope.
In addition, a heat-retaining sponge was also found. “The sponge should be large and wide, but it has come out in small pieces,” said Yudo.
“Finally, diesel fuel has also been seen through air patrols and has expanded within a radius of 10 miles,” he concluded. photo courtesy inquirer.net