INDONESIAN search teams believe that they have located a missing submarine with 53 people on board.

The search team will be receiving help from the US Pentagon to locate the submarine.

When did the Indonesian submarine go missing?

The Indonesian submarine has been missing since Wednesday, April 21, 2021.

The area where searchers are concentrating is about 40 kilometers (approximately 25 miles) north of Bali.

According to authorities the vessel could run out of oxygen within hours.

Oil had been spotted on the surface of the water near the dive point, and where an object likely to have come from the submarine was detected, according to Maj. Gen. Achmad Riad, the head of the military's central information unit.

Experts believe that the submarine tank could be leaking because it is in too deep, or the submarine released fluid on board in an attempt to rise to the surface.

Who is helping find the Indonesian submarine?

Six warships, a helicopter and 400 people, have already been deployed to the area, with desperate officials trying to hone in on a radar signal detected from an unidentified object today.

Singapore and Malaysia have dispatched ships, and the US, Australia, France, and Germany have also offered assistance.

Officials added that they were investigating whether the submarine lost power during a dive and could not carry out emergency procedures.

It is believed to have descended to a depth of 600-700 metres, beyond its capacity.

Who built the submarine?

The 1,395-tonne vessel was built in Germany in 1977, according to the defense ministry, and joined the Indonesian fleet in 1981.

It underwent a two-year refit in South Korea that was completed in 2012.

The Chief of Indonesia's Military Minister Prabowo Subianto acknowledged it was "imperative that we should modernize our defense equipment faster".

He did not suggest there were any problems with the vessel.

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