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'Explosion' detected near route of missing Argentinian submarine, navy confirms Argentina: grief and anger after 'explosion' near missing submarine
(about 3 hours later)
An abnormal sound detected in the South Atlantic Ocean hours after an Argentinian navy submarine sent its last signal last week was “consistent with an explosion”, a navy spokesman has said. The families of the crew of a missing Argentinian navy submarine reacted with grief and then anger on Thursday to the possibility that an explosion had hit the submarine around the time it sent its last signal on 15 November.
Capt Enrique Balbi described the blast as “abnormal, singular, short, violent” and “non-nuclear”. It was detected at 10.31am on 15 November along the route that the ARA San Juan had been following when it last made radio contact three hours earlier. An abnormal sound detected in the South Atlantic ocean was “consistent with an explosion”, navy spokesman Enrique Balbi told reporters. The navy did not have enough information to say what the cause of the explosion could have been or whether the vessel – the ARA San Juan – might have been attacked, Balbi said.
The sound has been pinpointed to within a radius of 78 miles (125km). Six vessels are attempting to locate the submarine, in an area that has already been searched. Relatives of the submarine’s 44 crew members, camped out in a naval base in the coastal city of Mar del Plata, had been largely optimistic before Thursday’s announcement, which prompted cries of anguish and calls for authorities to be held to account.
The explosion was picked up by US sensors and by international agencies responsible for the detection of nuclear explosions around the world, Balbi said. Two Nasa planes were continuing to fly over the area in search of the submarine. Footage of relatives collapsing to the pavement as uniformed navy servicemen embraced each other was broadcast on live television, sending shockwaves across Argentina.
The explosion was detected in an area where Argentina’s continental shelf drops off abruptly from a depth of 200 metres to anything up to 5,000 metres, naval expert Horacio Tobías told the TN news network. A huge sea and air hunt is being conducted for the San Juan, a German-built, diesel-electric powered submarine that was launched in 1983. Some relatives have questioned authorities for letting the crew navigate on an ageing submarine - criticism that has highlighted the armed forces’ dwindling resources since the end of a military dictatorship in the 1980s.
This means that the ARA San Juan would be difficult to find if it sank beyond the continental shelf. The existence of other sunken ships in that area of the sea floor could also increase the difficulty of identifying remains of the submarine. Authorities have said the level of maintenance, not the age, was what mattered, and that the vessel was in good condition. It received a major mid-life upgrade in 2009, in which its four diesel engines and electric propeller engines were replaced, according to specialist publication Jane’s Sentinel.
“They sent a piece of shit out to navigate,” said Itatí Leguizamón, the wife of San Juan’s sonar operator Germán Suárez. “We don’t believe they didn’t know from before. They’re perverse bastards who’ve had us here for a week.”
Leguizamón said naval officers had not been able to finish reading relatives the latest report because of the angry reaction. She also claimed her husband had told her about an incident in 2014 when the ARA San Juan had been unable to surface.
Elena Alfaro, another relative, told TN news network: “I feel like I’m at a wake. I also feel time passing and time is crucial.”
“They killed my brother,” one relative yelled from a car window as he drove off after Thursday’s announcement.
Argentina’s centre-right president, Mauricio Macri, has criticised naval commanders over their handling of the crisis. According to the Infobae website, Macri’s defence minister, Oscar Aguad, only learned that the submarine was missing when he read about it in the press.
Macri took office last year promising to increase the military budget.
“I know the state has ignored you for years, abandoned you, and that’s created problems in terms of budget, equipment and infrastructure,” Macri said at an Army Day ceremony in June 2016 in which he promised to improve military salaries and renew armaments.
Balbi’s comments followed information the navy received on Thursday from the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), an international body that runs a global network of listening posts designed to check for secret atomic blasts.
The Vienna-based agency, which has monitoring stations equipped with devices including underwater microphones that scan the oceans for sound waves, said in a statement that two of its stations had detected an unusual signal near where the submarine went missing. But the agency was more guarded about whether this was caused by an explosion.
The noise was detected in an area where Argentina’s continental shelf drops off abruptly from a depth of 200 metres to anything up to 5,000 metres, naval expert Horacio Tobías told the TN news network.
This means that the San Juan would be difficult to find if it sank beyond the continental shelf. The existence of other sunken ships in that area of the sea floor could also increase the difficulty of identifying the remains of the submarine.
With the seven-day limit on the ARA San Juan’s oxygen reserves having been reached on Wednesday morning, what hopes that remained were pinned on the submarine having been able to replenish its oxygen supply by surfacing at some point during the past week.With the seven-day limit on the ARA San Juan’s oxygen reserves having been reached on Wednesday morning, what hopes that remained were pinned on the submarine having been able to replenish its oxygen supply by surfacing at some point during the past week.
Relatives of the crew gathered at the Mar del Plata navy base reacted with anger when officers informed them of the latest report. Relatives have had their hopes raised and then dashed on a number of occasions already. Underwater sounds detected in the first days of the search by two Argentinian search ships were determined to originate from a sea creature, not the vessel. Satellite signals were also determined to be false alarms.
“They didn’t say they’re dead, but that’s what seems logical,” said Itatí Leguizamón, the wife of Germán Suárez, a sonar operator. “We don’t believe they didn’t know from before. They’re perverse bastards who’ve had us here for a week.” Russia was the latest navy to volunteer to a multinational sea search, sending an oceanographic research ship as the operation shifted focus from rescue to recovery.
Leguizamón said naval officers had not been able to finish reading relatives the latest report because of their angry reaction. She claimed her husband had told her about an incident in 2014 when the ARA San Juan had been unable to surface. “I feel cheated,” said Leguizamón. “They say they only found out now, but how can they have only found out now?”
Argentina’s president, Mauricio Macri, has reportedly criticised naval commanders over their handling of the crisis. According to the Infobae website, Macri’s defence minister, Oscar Aguad, only learned that the submarine was missing when he read about it in the press. Leguizamón said other relatives were also furious. “They’re tearing up everything in there,” she told reporters outside the naval base. “How would you react if you were lied to?
Defending the delay, navy chiefs said military protocol advised a 48-hour waiting period before beginning search efforts for submarines lost at sea. “They [the navy] didn’t use the word ‘dead’ but that’s the logical conclusion.”
Also being called into question is the wisdom of having deployed a 34-year-old submarine to make the 10-day journey from the Argentinian port of Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, to the naval base in Mar del Plata. Reuters contributed to this story