Explosion documented where submarine last heard

MAR DEL PLATA, ARGENTINA: The Argentine navy yesterday raised the possibility a navy submarine missing in the South Atlantic suffered an explosion, as family members of crew said they had been told all the crew were considered lost.

A sound detected underwater by an international agency on the morning of November 15, around the time the San Juan sent its last signal and in the same area, was ‘‘consistent with an explosion,’’ navy spokesman Enrique Balbi said.

The sub had only a sevenday supply of oxygen, a fact that has already drained hope from some of the relatives of the crew who gathered at the vessel’s base in the city of Mar del Plata.

‘‘What’s the point of hope if it’s already over?’’ Itati Leguizamon, wife of one of the missing crew members, said.

The navy did not have enough information to say what the cause of the explosion could have been or whether the vessel might have been attacked, Balbi said.

Searchandrescue crews were undeterred by a series of false leads that raised hope over the past days the sub might be located. Asked during an evening news conference about the fate of the 44 sailors, Balbi said the situation was ‘‘critical’’.

‘‘We are not going to enter into conjecture out of respect for the families,’’ he said.

The information about the possible explosion was received yesterday from the Comprehensive Nuclear TestBan Treaty Organisation, or CTBTO, an international body that runs a global network of listening posts designed to check for secret atomic blasts.

The Viennabased agency, which has monitoring stations equipped with devices including underwater microphones that scan the oceans for soundwaves, said in a statement two of its stations had detected an unusual signal near where the submarine went missing. The agency was more guarded about whether that was caused by an explosion.

A huge sea and air hunt was being conducted for the San Juan, a Germanbuilt, dieselelectric powered submarine launched in 1983.

The relatives had been largely optimistic until yesterday when they cried and insulted authorities after being briefed on the news of the possible explosion. They were told about it before the public announcement.

Balbi said the San Juan was 430km off the Patagonian coast when it sent its last signal. — Reuters

PHOTO: REUTERS A man walks past signs and messages in support of the 44 crew members of the missing submarine San Juan, placed on a fence at an Argentine naval base in Mar del Plata, Argentina, yesterday.