VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The House of Representatives (DPR) has voiced its support for the government's endeavors to retrieve the bodies of 53 submariners from the wreckage of KRI Nanggala-402, which sank in the Bali sea last week.

The government needs to make utmost efforts to retrieve the bodies, House Speaker Puan Maharani said in a press statement that ANTARA received here on Thursday.

Maharani visited Surabaya, East Java on Thursday to join President Joko Widodo's meeting with the families of the fallen heroes at the Indonesian naval base in the city.

"We respect the grieving families. Indonesia also remains saddened by this recent tragedy," she said, adding that as part of efforts to prevent such a tragedy from recurring, the House would discuss the submarine incident and Indonesia's defence capability with the government's representatives.

"We all share a similar understanding that we do not want such a tragedy to recur," she remarked.

Earlier, Maharani had asked lawmakers to fly the Red and White flag at half-staff at their residence for three days as a mark of respect for the submariners who were on board KRI Nanggala-402 when it sank during a torpedo drill.

She also ordered the lowering of the national flag at half-staff at the parliament building from April 26 to April 28, 2021.

Contact was lost with the German-made submarine early on April 21, 2021, and Indonesian Navy’s Chief of Staff, Admiral Yudo Margono, confirmed that it had sunk after several of its components were retrieved during the search mission.

"The components (that have been found) are torpedo tube-straighteners, coolant pipes wrap, a bottle of periscope lubricating oil, prayer mats, and heat-retaining sponges," Margono told the press.

The 209/1300-type submarine was built in Germany's Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in 1977 and was officially inducted into the navy in 1981.

KRI Nanggala-402’s propulsion system employed a Siemens low-speed diesel electric motor, connected directly to the propeller shaft, which could generate about five thousand shaft horsepower.

Its electrical power was stored in batteries, which made up 25 percent of the vessel's weight, according to the navy. Four MTU diesel supercharged engines generated electricity in the vessel. (antaranews)