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Argentine navy loses contact with submarine Argentina missing navy submarine: Search stepped up
(about 20 hours later)
The Argentine navy is searching the South Atlantic for a submarine that has not made contact for 48 hours. The Argentine navy is stepping up its search in the South Atlantic for a 44-crew submarine that has been out of radio contact for three days.
The vessel with its 44 crew was last located more than 400km (250 miles) off the coast of Patagonia, the navy said. President Maurico Macri said all national and international resources were being deployed to help find the San Juan as quickly as possible.
There is no sign yet that the problem is anything worse than a communications failure, a spokesman said. A Nasa research plane has joined the search for the vessel.
It is believed that the ARA San Juan, a German-built TR-1700 type submarine, suffered an electric malfunction, Argentina's La Nacion reports. Britain and countries in the region have offered help after it disappeared 430km (267 miles) off the coast.
Navy spokesman Enrique Balbi told the newspaper the submarine had been on its way from the Ushuaia naval base to the Mar del Plata base, its usual station, when "at some moment communication stopped". "We have not been able to find, or have visual or radar communication with the submarine," navy spokesman Enrique Balbi told a news conference.
"It's not that it's lost," he said. "For it to be lost we'd have to look for it and not find it." The diesel-electric submarine was returning from a routine mission to Ushuaia, near the southern-most tip of South America, to its base at Mar del Plata, south of Buenos Aires.
Mr Balbi said the submarine had food supplies for several days and was probably continuing its planned journey. Its last contact with the navy command was on Wednesday morning.
An Argentine destroyer and two corvettes are conducting a search around the area of the sub's last known position off the south-eastern Valdez peninsula.
But so far there are no clues about its whereabouts.
The rescue operation has been formally upgraded to a search-and-rescue procedure after no visual or radar contact was made with the submarine, Mr Balbi said.
"Detection has been difficult despite the quantity of boats and aircraft involved in the search", he said.
The task of the rescuers has been further complicated by heavy winds and high waves.
Mr Balbi said that the number of hours that had passed since there had been any communication with the vessel was of concern.
It is thought that the submarine may have had communication difficulties caused by a power cut.
Navy protocol dictates that a vessel should come to the surface if communication has been lost.
"We expect that it is on the surface," Mr Balbi said.
The German-built submarine was inaugurated in 1983, the newest of the three submarines in the Argentine navy's fleet.
President Macri said the government was in regular contact with the crew's families.
"We share their concern and that of all Argentines," he wrote on Twitter. "We are committed to using all national and international resources necessary to find the ARA San Juan submarine as soon as possible."
A US Nasa P-3 explorer aircraft - capable of long-duration flights - is preparing to take part in the search, Mr Balbi said, in addition to a Hercules C-130 from the Argentine Air Force.
Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, and South Africa have all formally offered assistance in the search.
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