Explosion dashes lost hopes for missing sub
BUENOS AIRES (AFP) — The Argentine navy confirmed on Thursday that its missing submarine experienced an explosion on Nov. 15 in the South Atlantic Ocean, but had no information on the fate of the 44 crew members.
“There was an anomalous event (which was) unusual, short, violent and non-nuclear, consistent with an explosion,” Argentine navy spokesman Capt. Enrique Balbi said at a news conference in Buenos Aires.
Balbi declined to speculate on the fate of the crew and whether there was a chance of rescuing them.
Assuming that the submarine remained intact after the blast and is resting on the ocean floor, the ship had only a seven-day supply of oxygen, which might have run out on Wednesday.
The explosion took place 385 km east of the Valdes Peninsula in Argentina’s Chubut province.
The blast was detected less than 65 km from where the submarine’s captain, Pedro Fernandez, last communicated with onshore authorities and mentioned problems with the ship’s battery system.
Balbi explained the delay in the announcement by saying his government received confirmation of the explosion on Wednesday from the US navy, which received and analysed the data collected from its sonar technology.
Separate confirmation came on Thursday from an Austriabased agency that monitors for violations of the global ban on nuclear testing.
Relatives of crew members, who said they were told the news soon before the Thursday news conference, said they were enraged and grief stricken by the Argentine navy’s handling of the information.
“Now there is no hope. We are furious. They are shameless,” said Itati Leguizamon, wife of the sub’s radar specialist German Oscar Suarez, speaking of navy officials.
“They lied to us. How are they not going to know (before now) that there was an explosion?”
Balbi said various ships and aircraft taking part in the multinational search and rescue operation are now on their way to the area to look for and recover the submarine. Included are ships capable of mapping the ocean floor.