Search Effort Stepped Up for Missing Argentine Sub With 44 Aboard
By VOA News November 20, 2017
Argentina's navy says efforts to locate a submarine missing since last week have been stepped up by a multinational team in the South Atlantic Ocean.
A naval spokesman said Monday the search effort has been "tripled" with ships and aircraft from at least seven countries looking for the submarine ARA San Juan, which disappeared last Wednesday.
He revealed the submarine reported an undisclosed mechanical breakdown in its final communication and was ordered to Mar del Plata, 400 kilometers south of Buenos Aires.
Meanwhile, the navy said seven signals detected Saturday were not attempted distress calls from the submarine, as previously hoped.
Eight-meter high waves and 74 kilometer per hour winds have hampered the search effort.
Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, the United States, and Britain have joined the search. Britain, which fought a war with Argentina in the 1980s, is using an Arctic research vessel with scientific sensors in the search. The United States has sent a NASA research plane, a submarine-hunting plane, along with a submarine rescue team.
The 66 meter long, German-built diesel-electric submarine has been in service since 1985. Argentina's first female submarine officer, Eliana Krawczyk, is a member of the crew.
The San Juan is equipped with an emergency satellite communication system that can send a buoy to the ocean's surface to send distress signals.
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