A touching video of the 53-member Indonesian submarine that sank last week singing a "goodbye" song o board the vessel just a few weeks before the tragedy has emerged. The video, filmed a few weeks before the KRI Nanggala 402 went down with the all lives lost, shows some of the crew members singing 'Sampai Jumpa', an Indonesian hit whose title means 'Goodbye.'
Submarine commander Heri Oktavian can also be seen among the many gathered around a seaman playing an acoustic guitar, as he enjoys the song. The touching video of members happily singing the song has since gone viral, with many on social media now saying that the crew probably knew that they would die.
Final Goodbye
The video that went viral on Monday shows a large number of the crew members singing the popular Indonesian 'Sampai Jumpa' hit. "Even though I'm not ready to be missing you, I'm not ready to live without you," the sailors sing in the poignant rendition of the original. "I wish all the best for you." The haunting video was posted by Erix Soekamti, the original performer of the song, on Instagram on Sunday.
Indonesian military spokesman Djawara Whimbo told AFP that the video was recorded as a farewell for the outgoing commander of the navy's submarine corps, whose successor took over the role in early March, AFP reported.
The video emerged on the same the Indonesian navy announced that all members of the sunken KRI Nanggala 402 submarine had been declared dead. The submarine went missing last week. "Based on the evidence, it can be stated that the KRI Nanggala has sunk and all of its crew have died," military chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto told reporters on Sunday, according to Al Jazeera.
A Sad Parting
The grim announcement comes a day after Indonesia said the submarine was considered sunk, not merely missing, but did not explicitly say whether the crew was dead. Officials had previously said that the German-built submarine was diesel-powered and its oxygen supply would have run out early Saturday, three days after it went missing off the resort island of Bali.
However, a search for the vessel and crew was still on for a day, after which the wreckage of the submarine was traced. "We received underwater pictures that are confirmed as parts of the submarine, including its rear vertical rudder, anchors, outer pressure body, embossed dive rudder and other ship parts," military chief Hadi Tjahjanto told reporters in Bali on Sunday.
"With this authentic evidence, we can declare that KRI Nanggala 402 has sunk and all the crew members are dead," Tjahjanto said.
After the Indonesian military lost contact, it sent a distress signal to the International Submarine Escape and Rescue Liaison Office. It also asked for help from the Singapore, Australian and Indian navies to locate the missing vessel.
The US Department of Defense also joined the search mission. An underwater robot equipped with cameras documented the wreckage lying on the ocean floor at a depth of 2,750 feet, said Adm. Yudo Margono, the navy's chief of staff.
