Indonesian Navy Denies KRI Nanggala-402 Shot By Foreign Ship, Considering Excessive Speculation

DOCUMENTATION BETWEEN/KRI NANGGALA-402

JAKARTA - Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy Assistant for Planning and Budgeting, Admiral Muhammad Ali denied rumors that the KRI Nanggala-402 sank because of being shot by a foreign ship. The TNI said that the speculation circulating in society was excessive.

Speculation has surfaced that the German-made submarine carrying 53 crew was shot by a foreign ship. This is widely discussed on social media by netizens.

"(Speculation that the KRI Nanggala-402 was shot, ed). I think this foreign ship has passed by is exaggerated", Ali said in a press conference on Tuesday, April 27.

Ali explained that the training in the northern waters of Bali did not only involve the KRI Nanggala-402 but also involved other ships. So, if there is an incident between one ship and a foreign ship, it will be known.

Moreover, ships participating in this training are equipped with sonar that will detect if there is an explosion or torpedo firing.

"So if there is an explosion, sonar must be heard. In fact, by ear, the eye can see that the water will rise slightly upward", he said.

"So, there was no explosion at the time of the incident. That's from the observations of the ships that took part in the training with KRI Nanggala-402 yesterday", Ali added.

As previously reported, TNI Commander Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto on the fifth day of the search or Sunday, April 25, announced that 53 soldiers on board the KRI Nanggala-402 submarine were declared dead in their duties.

The announcement was made after the search team found several authentic pieces of evidence that showed the KRI Nanggala-402 sank at a depth of 838 meters and the hull of the ship was split into three parts.

The ship is actually scheduled to have a missile-firing exercise in the Bali Sea scheduled for Thursday, April 22. This exercise will be witnessed by Tjahjanto and the Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff, Admiral Yudho Margono.

Technically, the KRI Nanggala-402 comes from the Type 209/1300 which was made by the Howaldtswerke shipyard in Kiel, West Germany in 1979, and entered active service in 1981.

The propulsion system of the KRI Nanggala-402 consists of a low-speed Siemens diesel-electric motor whose labor is directly channeled to the propeller at the stern.

The thrust strength is 5,000 ship (shaft horsepower), while the electric batteries weighing about 25 percent of the gross weight of the ship store electric power. Four supercharged MTU diesel engines are responsible for supplying the ship's electric power.