Hopes dashed on recovery of missing Argentine navy submarine

A sound detected on Monday in the South Atlantic, near where an Argentine navy submarine with 44 crew went missing five days ago, is not believed to have come from the ill-fated vessel, a navy spokesman said.

The sound detected by probes initially raised hopes that crew members aboard the ARA San Juan submarine, which disappeared after reporting an electrical malfunction, may have been intentionally making noise to attract rescuers.

But an analysis by Argentine authorities, on the fourth day of a searchand-rescue mission, showed that it was highly unlikely it had come from the German-built submarine, navy spokesman Enrique Balbi told reporters in Buenos Aires.

“It does not correspond to a pattern that would be consistent with bangs against the walls in morse code,” Balbi said. He described whatever had been detected as “a continuous, constant sound.”

The disappointment followed another letdown earlier in the day, when the navy said satellite calls detected over the weekend did not come from the vessel.

The submarine disappeared on Wednesday after reporting an electrical problem and was headed back to its base in the port of Mar del Plata, the navy said. Storms have complicated search efforts as relatives wait anxiously.

More than a dozen boats and aircraft from Argentina, the US, Britain, Chile and Brazil have joined the search effort. Authorities have mainly been scanning the sea from the sky, as storms have made it difficult for boats.

The navy said on Monday night that two boats belonging to French oil company Total SA, which has offshore operations in Argentina, arrived at the Patagonian port of Comodoro Rivadavia to transport rescue equipment the US Navy brought to the country, including a remote-operated vehicle, a mini-submarine, and a submarine rescue chamber.