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Indonesia's navy continues to search for the submarine.
She has now declared this to be "sunk"
Photo: SONNY TUMBELAKA / AFP
The Indonesian government has given up rescuing the 53 crew members of the submarine that sank in the Indian Ocean.
"The army and navy have changed the status of the submarine KRI Nanggala-402 from 'lost contact' to 'sunk' or 'sunk'," President Joko Widodo said on Sunday.
He expressed his condolences to the members of the crew.
On Saturday, the naval commander Yudo Margono announced that a submarine-like object had been located using sonar measurements at a depth of 850 meters.
Indonesia's navy also claims to have discovered suspected parts of the interior of the submarine in the water.
Therefore, it is now assumed that the "KRI Nanggala-402" has sunk, said Air Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto.
So far nothing is known about the fate of the 53-strong crew.
But there is little hope.
The boat, built in 1977 by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in Kiel, is only designed to dive up to 500 meters deep.
The water pressure increases with increasing depth.
According to calculations by the Indonesian Navy, the oxygen reserves on board the »KRI Nanggala-402« should only last until Saturday morning - and only if the boat is undamaged.
According to the Navy, among the items found were items from inside the submarine, including a bottle with lubricant for the periscope and fragments of prayer mats.
Without "external pressure" or "damage" to the torpedo launcher, objects from the inside would not have been able to get out, the AFP news agency quoted navy chief Yudo Margono on Saturday.
The almost 60 meter long submarine lost contact with the outside world early Wednesday morning during an exercise.
At the time it was about 95 kilometers north of Bali.
The cause of the accident is still unclear.
According to the authorities, there may have been a power failure in the submarine, which meant that the crew could no longer appear.
Margono ruled out an explosion.
Rather, everything indicates that the submarine broke apart under the water pressure at a depth of 800 meters, as it was not designed for this depth.
An Australian warship and an American special aircraft had recently participated in the search.
clh / Reuters