Video has emerged showing sailors on the doomed Indonesian submarine singing a farewell song weeks before it sank.
The video, which was released by the Indonesian military in March but caught the attention of many on social media in the last few days, shows crewmates in uniform tightly crowded into the submarine as one strums a guitar. Together they sing an Indonesian song called “Sampai Jumpa,” which means “See you later.”
“Even though I’m not ready to be missing you, I’m not ready to live without you, I wish all the best for you,” they sing in unison.
The short video was recorded weeks ahead of the disaster as part of a submarine commander’s farewell, according to the Indonesian military.
The vessel’s commander in charge at the time of the sinking, Heri Oktavian, can be seen in the middle of the group singing along with colleagues.
The submarine’s 53 crew were all confirmed dead by Indonesia’s military on Sunday, after wreckage of the vessel was detected on the ocean floor split into at least three parts. It is not known whether those in the video were on the vessel when it sank.
“With this authentic evidence, we can declare that ‘KRI Nanggala 402’ has sunk and all the crew members are dead,” Indonesian military chief Hadi Tjahjanto told reporters over the weekend.
The German-built “KRI Nanggala 402” went missing days earlier off the vacation island of Bali, in southeast Asia, and sparked international search efforts. Among them support from the United States, which sent a P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance plane, to aid the desperate search in a race against time as oxygen supplies onboard depleted.
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Debris including oil bottles and Islamic prayer rugs were found floating in the ocean over the weekend. The submarine lost contact Wednesday, while rehearsing for torpedo drills when it missed a scheduled reporting call.
The cause of the disaster remains unclear. The navy had said an electrical failure could have left the submarine unable to execute emergency procedures to resurface.
The navy plans to eventually lift the wreckage and recover the dead, although the depth of the water poses a significant challenge, said Adm. Yudo Margono, Indonesia’s navy’s chief of staff, on Sunday.
The vessel was detected by an underwater robot and scanning technology on the ocean floor at a depth of 838 meters (2,750 feet), said Margono — where the water pressure would be far greater than the hull could withstand, according to earlier navy statements.
Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo delivered his condolences in a televised address Sunday, expressing his “deep sorrow,” as family members mourned.
The submarine had been in service in Indonesia since 1981 and was carrying 49 crew members and three gunners as well as its commander, the Indonesian Defense Ministry said.
The Associated Press contributed.
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