Families angry Argentina without means to recover sub from ocean floor
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Hours after announcing the discovery of an Argentine submarine lost deep in the Atlantic a year ago with 44 crew members aboard, the government said Saturday that it is unable to recover the vessel, drawing anger from missing sailors’ relatives who demanded that it be raised.
Defence Minister Oscar Aguad said the country lacks “modern technology” capable of “verifying the seabed” to extract the ARA San Juan, which was found 907 metres deep in waters off the Valdes Peninsula in Argentine Patagonia, roughly 600 kilometres from the port city of Comodoro Rivadavia.
Earlier, the navy said a “positive identification” had been made by a remote-operated submersible from the American company Ocean Infinity, commissioned by the Argentine government.
It remained unclear what the next steps could be.
Navy commander Jose Luis Villan urged “prudence,” saying that a federal judge was overseeing the investigation and would be the one to decide whether it was possible to recover a part or the entirety of the ship.
Without adequate technological capabilities, however, Argentina would likely need to seek assistance from foreign countries or pay Ocean Infinity or another company, potentially complicating its recent commitment to austerity. Argentina is currently facing a currency crisis and double-digit inflation that has led the government to announce sweeping measures to balance the budget and concretize a financing deal with the International Monetary Fund.
Relatives of crew members were determined to fight for it to be quickly surfaced.
Isabel Vilca, the half sister of crewman Daniel Alejandro Polo, said families need to recover the remains of their loved ones to know what happened and help prevent similar tragedies.