"submarine"

SINGAPORE/BANYUWANGI - Indonesian authorities said on Sunday (April 25) that the submarine which went missing during naval exercises was found cracked into three parts on the seabed in the waters north of Bali island, and all 53 crew on board were dead.

KRI Nanggala 402 submarine that went missing off Bali with 53 people aboard earlier this week has "sunk," the Indonesian Navy said Saturday.

The sailors aboard a missing Indonesian Navy submarine KRI Nanggala-402 have enough oxygen to last until Saturday, the Navy chief of staff Adm. Yudo Margono said on Thursday, while its Indonesian Military commander said the vessel was in good condition and battle-ready.

The Indonesian Navy is searching for a submarine with 53 people on board that went missing on Wednesday and is seeking help from neighboring Australia and Singapore in the hunt, the Indonesia’s military commander told Reuters.

Japan, the United States and Australia will work together to set up submarine communications cables in the Pacific region, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned, in a bid to counter China’s rapid expansion in field of undersea cables.

The government is making efforts to ensure that there will be sufficient face masks for medical staff and citizens, deputy government spokesperson Ratchada Dhanadirek said on Sunday.

North Korea has built a new submarine believed to be capable of carrying at least three ballistic missiles and is gauging the right time to unveil it, a local news outlet said Sunday, citing anonymous Seoul officials familiar with the matter.

The Royal Thai Navy has created a Facebook fanpage named “Thai Submarines” in order to inform the general public about the watercraft, which many people see as extravagance and a useless investment of the Navy, as well as a corruption channel of the military wing.

North Korea showcased yet another new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) in just three months during a recent military parade, experts said Friday.

The government did not seek Parliament approval to procure the first submarine from China because at the stage of drafting an agreement, the Foreign Ministry determined the pact came under enforcement of Thai law, not an international legal treaty nor a contract under Section 23 of the Interim Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand 2014, said Deputy Defence Minister General Chaichan Changmongkol.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has decided to postpone a Bt22.5-billion deal to buy submarines from China to next year due to public concerns about the economy amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Debate on whether Thailand needs submarines is raging again after a House subcommittee on budget scrutiny last Friday voted 5-4 along party lines to back the Navy’s Bt22.5-billion plan to buy two more China-made subs.