Indonesia in frantic search for lost submarine with 53 people on board

Contact with the vessel was lost at 4:30 am on 12 April

The KRI Nanggala-402 type submarine has gone missing while on a drill (file image) (Getty Images)

The Indonesian navy is searching for a missing submarine with 53 people on board.

The German-made submarine, KRI Nanggala-402, disappeared as it conducted a torpedo drill in waters north of the island of Bali but failed to relay the results as expected, a navy spokesman said.

Contact with the vessel was lost at 4:30 am on 12 April.

Indonesia is seeking help from Australia and Singapore in the desperate hunt to locate the missing submarine, a military official told Reuters.

“We are still searching in the waters of Bali, 60 miles (96 km) from Bali, (for) 53 people,” military chief Hadi Tjahjanto told Reuters in a text message.

The military chief confirmed that assistance in the search for both the missing people and vessel had been sought from Australia and Singapore.

The submarine was built in Germany in 1978, and had a full refit completed in South Korea in 2012.

Representatives of the defence departments of Australia and Singapore did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Additional reporting from Reuters