Lost Indonesian Submarine

[Antmany2k]

not sure if this is the place for this but here goes,

i have been following the news of the indonesian submarine thats currently been lost and they say that they found an object that may be the sub at 50-100 meters and are awaiting ships to arrive with underwater detection facilities to arrive. now considering the rescue of these men (if alive) is time critical (around 24 hours of oxygen left) surely it would be quicker and easier to send a few tec divers down to see what it is and assess the state of the sub (if thats what it is). am i over simplifying it? is there a reason that they cant do that? cause to me 50-100 meters doesnt really seem that far and i imagine the water out there is nice and clear. just interested in why they have to wait for a slow cumbersome ship to arrive

 

[OTF]

It is interesting that it's within tech diving range, I had the same thought. Tech divers would need to arrive by some sort of boat or ship anyway. As soon as pretty much any vessel is on site they can confirm what it is with sonar and send down ROVs or divers to investigate. But if (hopefully!) the crew is alive inside they will likely need to get a rescue ship/bell on site, there isn't much that divers could do without heavy equipment.

Also navies and corporations with surface supply saturation diving capability really don't like using non-tethered SCUBA divers on deep jobs for safety reasons.

 

[Bowers]

I am very curious as well. The “object” as one article reported had magnetic resonance and may have been “a part from the sub”. So i believe they aren’t assuming the sub is less than 100 meters but rather that the part and the oil indicate that the sub is likely to be located below (maybe 700 meters).

 

[Antmany2k]

Tech divers would need to arrive by some sort of boat or ship anyway. As soon as pretty much any vessel is on site they can confirm what it is with sonar and send down ROVs or divers to investigate. But if (hopefully!) the crew is alive inside they will likely need to get a rescue ship/bell on site, there isn't much that divers could do without heavy equipment.

true but the sub sank somewhere off of Bali so it would be quicker to get a boat full of divers out to assess the area until the heavy duty stuff gets there.

I am very curious as well. The “object” as one article reported had magnetic resonance and may have been “a part from the sub”. So i believe they aren’t assuming the sub is less than 100 meters but rather that the part and the oil indicate that the sub is likely to be located below (maybe 700 meters).

good point i didnt really think of that. but then tec divers could go down assess what that object or part is and as harsh as it sounds, decide whether its worth bringing in the heavy machinery or if its a lost cause

 

[HKGuns]

There is about zero chance it is sitting in 300' of water. The normal operating envelope of submarines requires far more depth below the keel in order to dive.

Unfortunately history shows us these incidents typically never end well. Blessings to the crew and I hope beyond hope they make it out alive.

 

[jlcnuke]

There are military teams designed for exactly these missions. The submariners know the risks, and some random person of unknown origins checking it out from the exterior isn't really going to provide any benefit that I can perceive.

The personnel on-board, if still alive, won't be rescued by a tech diver showing up outside the boat, and the rescue teams that have the equipment and training to effect a rescue are going to be needed and are on the way already, so not crowding the area with people who don't know anything about how to assess a disabled/damaged submarine or how to communicate effectively with them doesn't seem like it would have any benefit. I can't imagine if my sub had been disabled that anything but confusion or worry would be had if we were discovered by some random diver.

The Navy certainly wouldn't have believed some random diver they know nothing about that they should abandon the search in that location, that's for sure. For all they know, an enemy state has persuaded that person to say those things so they can try and salvage the sub later without detection.

 

[Antmany2k]

There are military teams designed for exactly these missions. The submariners know the risks, and some random person of unknown origins checking it out from the exterior isn't really going to provide any benefit that I can perceive.

The personnel on-board, if still alive, won't be rescued by a tech diver showing up outside the boat, and the rescue teams that have the equipment and training to effect a rescue are going to be needed and are on the way already, so not crowding the area with people who don't know anything about how to assess a disabled/damaged submarine or how to communicate effectively with them doesn't seem like it would have any benefit. I can't imagine if my sub had been disabled that anything but confusion or worry would be had if we were discovered by some random diver.

The Navy certainly wouldn't have believed some random diver they know nothing about that they should abandon the search in that location, that's for sure. For all they know, an enemy state has persuaded that person to say those things so they can try and salvage the sub later without detection.

yeah im not suggesting just grab some holiday maker and send them down. but surely there must be some trained navy divers for that. and yeah if it was China or Russia then keeping secrets and subterfuge are rife but a 40 year old submarine for a small countries navy is hardly cutting edge technology to pilfer at a later date

 

[Searcaigh]

true but the sub sank somewhere off of Bali so it would be quicker to get a boat full of divers out to assess the area until the heavy duty stuff gets there.

Not that simple.

In any case it's 100Km north of Bali US joins race to find stricken Indonesia submarine

I hope they find them in time before the CO2 levels put them all to sleep.

 

[rhwestfall]

This isn't a movie.......

 

[Searcaigh]

but surely there must be some trained navy divers for that.

I can tell you that where I live the local navy didn't have any divers trained to dive beyond 30m two years ago when an incident happened that I won't elaborate on as it is very off topic.

When I worked offshore back in the 80s we had the Royal Navy visit our DSV prior to a salvage operation on an RAF WWII aircraft as they did not have the equipment to manage the operation. I was surprised but some of my ex-RN colleagues were not.