Enlarge image
Search mission near Bali: Hope is fading
Photo: Achmad Ibrahim / AP
An Australian warship and an American special aircraft are now also involved in the search for a lost Indonesian submarine.
In the course of the day, the rescue ship "MV Swift Rescue" of the Singapore Navy is expected to take part in the action off the coast of Bali, said a spokesman for the Indonesian army.
According to calculations by the Indonesian Navy, the oxygen reserves on board the submarine "KRI Nanggala-402", which has been missing since Wednesday with a crew of 53, should only last until this Saturday morning - and only if the boat is undamaged.
Help comes from several countries
Australia has now dispatched the frigate "HMAS Ballarat", and from the US, a Poseidon P-8, an aircraft specially equipped for submarine hunting, is participating.
According to Indonesian information, ships from Malaysia and India are also expected in the course of the day and will also help with the search.
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.
According to the Navy, the "KRI Nanggala-402" is probably 600 to 700 meters under water.
The ship built in Kiel at the end of the 1970s is only designed to dive to a maximum depth of 500 meters.
mxw / dpa