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2021-06-06

Sunken Submarines Raise Need for Deep Introspection

The recent sinking of 44-year-old KRI Nanggala 402 Cakra Class submarine of the Indonesian Navy during a torpedo drill and the subsequent loss of lives of its 53 crew members has brought up the need for deep introspection on the safety of submarines.

By: Caio Mussolini, General Manager,

Drass Middle East DMCC

Any naval vessel capable of propelling itself beneath the water as well as on the water’s surface is a submarine. Most people incorrectly associate submarines with ships. Nothing could be more wrong. A submarine is much more like an airplane, moving in a three-dimensional but in a denser medium. Like on aeroplanes, any emergency must be dealt with quickly, to avoid fatal consequences.

The Indonesian tragedy brings to memory the accident of the Russian submarine Kursk in 2000 and the death of its 118 crew members, following the internal explosion of a torpedo during a drill in the Barents Sea. It is considered the most serious submarine accident in peacetime.

In April 2003, it was the turn of the Chinese submarine Changcheng 361 - built following a project from the 1970s - where an accident caused by a mechanical problem led to the death of all 70 crew members.

More recently and very much alive in memory is the disappearance in 2017 of the Argentine submarine ARA San Juan during a transfer. The incident kept Argentine families and public opinion in suspense for weeks, until it was officially announced that there were no survivors. The submarine was located only a year later, lying on the seabed at 800 metres.

Submerged submarines, for safety reasons, must always move following predetermined routes and remain within geographical areas that can move (Moving Haven) or be fixed (Submarine Patrol Areas).

Moving Submarine Haven is an area established by a submarine operating authority to prevent mutual interference among friendly submarines, or between friendly submarines and ships operating with towed bodies or arrays.

Submarine Patrol Area is a restricted area established to allow submarine operations including; a. unimpeded by the operation of, or possible attack from, friendly forces in wartime; b. without mutual interference in peacetime.

It is necessary to periodically communicate (subcheck) to the command that operationally controls the submarine (Subopauth) and give one’s position.

If this does not happen at the pre-established time, there are procedures (comcheck, sublook, submiss, subsunk) to verify the status activating eventually the search and rescue procedures, with the use of all means available in the area (airplanes, helicopters, military units, merchant ships…) in cooperation with other navies in the area.

From the information available about KRI Nanggala 402, the submarine was found broken into at least three parts at the bottom of the Bali Sea at a depth of about 800 metres. Unfortunately, the sea depth in the area was significant, dimming the chances of finding someone alive.

The survival of a crew is conditioned by the rapid decay of the air quality on board, together with the problem of the temperature inside which drops quickly causing hypothermia.

Locating and recovering a submarine on the seabed is neither an easy nor a simple undertaking.

At this moment, the causes of the accident are only conceivable - fire, short circuit, torpedo problems, leak? –And, having the certainty of what happened - if ever feasible - will be a very long, complex, and expensive path.

Issues to be Addressed

The latest tragedy must make the world reflect and here are some considerations that may contribute to the debate and help avoid the repetition of similar events.

Given that the training and professionalism of submariners are among the highest standards in any Navy - they are an elite - the first consideration to make is about the age of the submarine: the Indonesian boat was built in Germany in 1977, and delivered in 1981, more than 40 years ago. The modernisation work was done in South Korea from 2009 to 2012.
The Argentine submarine ARA San Juan was also built in the early 1980s.

The exorbitant costs of conventional submarines (400/500 million euros at least) prevent many “green water” Navies from implementing programmes for the acquisition of new boats, and the result is often that of using them far beyond the technical limits.

The second factor concerns the on-board equipment and components (e.g., valves, hull passages or penetrators) up to torpedoes, which are often old, not guaranteeing the performance, safety and reliability of modern equipment and systems. The combination of modern systems and correct maintenance is essential to guarantee the safety of a submarine.

The third concerns training, and the need for every Navy to have modern systems in service to quickly rescue a distressed submarine.

It is essential that national and international exercises are periodically carried out, simulating the escape and recovery of the crew from a sunken submarine through systems such as the McCann bells, or the modern wire guided ROV rescue vehicles (remote operated vehicles).

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