Hopes of finding missing Argentine submarine dashed as sonar image reveals wreckage to be fishing boat

Huge operation: Sailors work to find the missing vessel
EPA
Fiona Simpson3 December 2017

An object thought to be the wreckage of the missing Argentine submarine has been revealed by sonar images to be a a sunken fishing boat.

Rescuers had sent an unmanned Russian vessel to investigate the 60 metre (197 feet) object located at 477 meters (1,565 feet) below sea level.

The ARA San Juan, that went missing on November 15 with 44 crew on board, was 66 meters (216 feet) in length.

Officials said the image was "unclear."

They sent the submersible to "visually verify" if it was indeed the missing submarine’s shell.

The ARA San Juan submarine disappeared while returning to its base in Mar del Plata
EPA

"It was confirmed that it wasn't the submarine's shell" but a sunken fishing vessel, Argentine navy spokesman Enrique Balbi said on Saturday.

The navy "regrets that without a rigorous analysis expectations were generated in the families and society, which must now face another frustration," Mr Balbi said.

Before Mr Balbi's announcement, authorities had said that if the image did not reveal any new clues, the search would focus on other signals of interest detected in parts of the South Atlantic where the vessel was last heard from.

Sailors pictured during the rescue mission
EPA

Argentina's navy said on Thursday that it is no longer looking for survivors although a multinational operation will continue searching for the vessel.

"The extreme environment, the time elapsed and the lack of any evidence eliminates a scenario compatible with human life," Mr Balbi said.

"These are hours of intense pain and anguish (for relatives) in light of the loss of their loved ones, our 44 comrades," he said.

The German-made submarine went missing as it was travelling from the extreme southern port of Ushuaia to the city of Mar del Plata, about 250 miles southeast of Buenos Aires.

The navy has said the vessel's captain reported that water entered the snorkel and caused one of the submarine's batteries to short circuit.

An explosion was later detected around the time and place where the San Juan last made contact.

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