Although China has been making such claims for years, recently dozens of Chinese fishing boats, escorted by coastguard vessels, reportedly made more aggressive moves in the area and ignored Indonesian warnings to leave. Geng’s statement drew indignation in Indonesia and prompted the military to increase its forces at the islands. His visit came a week after a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Geng Shuang, insisted Chinese fishers were free to conduct activities in the areas China claims as its traditional fishing grounds, which partly overlap Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone. Last year the president, Joko Widodo, reaffirmed the country’s sovereignty during a visit to the group of islands at the edge of the South China Sea. The incident comes at a tense time for Indonesian security forces. It was refitted in 1989 in Germany and then in 2012 in South Korea, with part of its structure replaced and upgrades to its propulsion, sonar and weapons systems. The KRI Nanggala disappeared after requesting. Indonesia’s Navy changed the status of its missing submarine from sub miss to sub sank on Saturday, as a naval chief presented debris believed to be from the vessel at a news conference. The KRI Nanggala had undergone several upgrades. Indonesia has ended its efforts to salvage the remains of a navy submarine that sank off the coast of Bali on 21 April, killing all 53 crew on board. Its construction began in 1978 and Indonesia took delivery in October 1981. The same model has served in more than a dozen navies around the world over the past half-century. The 1,300-tonne KRI Nanggala 402 is a Type 209 diesel-electric attack submarine that was built in Germany. It is the world’s largest archipelago nation, with more than 17,000 islands, and has faced growing challenges to its maritime claims in recent years, including numerous incidents involving Chinese vessels near the Natuna islands. Indonesia has a fleet of five submarines and plans to operate at least eight by 2024. Tjahjanto and other military leaders were to attend. The German-built submarine, which has been in service in Indonesia since 1981, was rehearsing for a missile-firing exercise that was to take place on Thursday.

“We will help our neighbours in any way we can.” “This is very distressing,” the Australian foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, said on Thursday. Indonesia has sought help from Australia and Singapore. 'They are the best sons of the nation, patriots guarding the sovereignty of the country.The ministry said the submarine was carrying 49 crew members, its commander and three gunners. 'All Indonesians convey deep sorrow for this tragedy, especially to all of the families of the submarine's crew,' Widodo said, per the AP report. Indonesian Navy Submarine Goes Missing With 53 People on Board The last request made by the submarine was for permission to descend to a deeper part of the Bali Sea. Indonesian President Joko Widodo addressed the nation Sunday.

'With this authentic evidence, we can declare that KRI Nanggala 402 has sunk and all the crew members are dead,' said military chief Hadi Tjahjanto, according to a translation by The Associated Press. The Indonesian navy said Saturday that it believed the ship had sunk and its crew of 53 were dead, an assessment later confirmed with underwater photos of the wreckage. The KRI Nanggala 402 went missing early Wednesday morning during a training exercise near Bali. The wreckage of a lost Indonesian submarine has been located, according to the country's military. Indonesia's military on Sunday officially admitted there was no hope of finding survivors. An underwater photo released Sunday by the Indonesian Navy shows parts of submarine KRI Nanggala that sank in Bali Sea, Indonesia.

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