Argentina detects sound suspected to be from missing submarine

The Argentine Navy has detected sounds suspected to be from a missing submarine and has cordoned off the area to focus the search.

The submarine ARA San Juan participates in a sea operation in 2013. Photo: AP.

The Argentine Navy submarine ARA San Juan went missing in the Atlantic Ocean on November 17 while traveling from the Ushuaia base to the city of Mar del Plata with 44 sailors on board. Argentina has launched a search operation with support from the UK, the US, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.

The sonar systems on the two ships detected sounds like objects being hit against the submarine's hull, CNN quoted a senior US Navy official familiar with the search operation as saying on November 20.

The official said the sailors on the ARA San Juan wanted to make noise to alert search ships to their location.

The Argentine Navy has determined the approximate location of the sound source and is focusing its search on a 35 square nautical mile (120 square km) area, approximately 530 km off the Argentine coast.

A US Navy P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine helicopter is assisting in the search. According to US officials, the Atlantic waters where the sound was emitted are "extremely deep" and they have not yet found the submarine.

The ARA San Juan’s last recorded position was on November 15 in the San Jorge Bay, several hundred kilometers off the coast of southern Argentina’s Patagonia region. This was halfway between the submarine’s departure and destination. The waters near Patagonia are prone to violent storms.

According to VNE