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Search for missing Argentine submarine reaches ‘critical phase’

Search for missing Argentine submarine reaches 'critical phase'

By Walter Bianchi and Nicolás Misculin

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina/BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – The search for an Argentine navy submarine missing in the South Atlantic for one week reached a “critical phase” on Wednesday as the 44 crew on board could be running low on oxygen, a navy spokesman said.

Dozens of planes and boats were searching for the ARA San Juan. Favorable weather meant boats could cover a greater area after being hampered by strong winds and high waves for much of the past few days, although poor weather was expected to return on Thursday, navy spokesman Enrique Balbi said.

If the German-built submarine had sunk or was otherwise unable to rise to the surface since it gave its last location on Nov. 15, it would be using up the last of its seven-day oxygen supply.

“We are in the critical phase…particularly with respect to oxygen,” Balbi told reporters. “There has been no contact with anything that could be the San Juan submarine.”

Around 30 boats and planes and 4,000 people from Argentina, the United States, Britain, Chile and Brazil have joined the search for the submarine, which last transmitted its location about 300 miles (480 km) from the coast.

Planes have covered some 500,000 square kilometers (190,000 square miles) of the ocean surface, but much of the area has not yet been scoured by the boats.

Several possible signals, including sounds and flares, that have been detected have turned out to be false alarms. Overnight, a British ship reported observing three orange and white flares, but they did not come from the vessel, Balbi said.

The submarine was launched in 1983 and underwent maintenance in 2008 in Argentina. It was en route from Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, to the coastal city of Mar del Plata, some 250 miles (400 km) south of Buenos Aires, when it reported an electrical malfunction shortly before disappearing last week.

Relatives of the crew members have been gathered at a naval base in Mar del Plata, where the search is being coordinated.

“We came today because we had hope that they had returned,” Elena Alfaro, the sister of crew member and radar expert Cristian Ibanez, told Reuters, in tears. “It is incomprehensible that so much time has passed. We are in pain.”

(Additional reporting by Juliana Castilla; Writing by Luc Cohen; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Weather improves in search for missing Argentine submarine

Weather improves in search for missing Argentine submarine

By Walter Bianchi

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina (Reuters) – The search continued on Tuesday for an Argentine submarine with 44 crew aboard, missing in the South Atlantic for nearly a week, with improved weather expected to quicken the hunt for the vessel.

Meteorologists expected waves of about 2 meters (6.6 ft) in the search area for the ARA San Juan, down from 8 meters over the weekend. Rescue boats have scoured about 80 percent of the search area, but storms and high winds have limited the effort in the past several days.

“Today is a critical day,” said Maria Victoria Morales, the mother of Luis Garcia, an electrical technician aboard the vessel. “We are holding up as well as we can.”

Morales and other relatives of crew members have been gathered at a naval base in Mar del Plata, where authorities are coordinating the search and rescue operation.

The submarine was en route from Ushuaia in Argentina’s extreme south to the coastal city of Mar del Plata when it sent its last location on Nov. 15.

More than a dozen boats and planes from Argentina, the United States, Britain, Chile and Brazil have joined the search. Authorities have mainly been scanning from the sky as storms have halted the maritime hunt.

“We trust that the boats assigned to each zone can do an effective maritime patrol, and will not be struggling against the storm as they were in recent days,” Navy spokesman Enrique Balbi said on Monday night.

Searchers have suffered disappointments in recent days as analyses have shown that satellite signals and sounds detected by underwater probes initially thought to be messages from the crew did not come from the vessel.

The submarine had reported an electrical problem and was heading back to its base in Mar del Plata when it disappeared on Wednesday nearly 300 miles off the coast.

The U.S. Navy was preparing on Tuesday to deploy rescue equipment, including a remote-operated vehicle.

The ARA San Juan was inaugurated in 1983, the newest of three submarines in the Navy’s fleet. Built in Germany, it underwent maintenance in 2008 in Argentina.

The maintenance included the replacement of its four diesel engines and its electric propeller engines, according to specialist publication Jane’s Sentinel.

(This version of the story corrects Balbi statement to Monday night, not Sunday night in paragraph seven)

(Reporting by Walter Bianchi; Writing by Luc Cohen; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)