Argentina minister says country without means to rescue sub
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Hours after announcing the discovery of an Argentine submarine lost deep in the Atlantic a year ago with 44 crew members aboard, the government said Saturday that it is unable to recover the vessel, drawing anger from missing sailors’ relatives who demanded that it be raised.
Defence Minister Oscar Aguad said at a press conference that the country lacks “modern technology” capable of “verifying the seabed” to extract the ARA San Juan, which was found 907 metres (2,975 feet) deep in waters off the Valdes Peninsula in Argentine Patagonia, roughly 600 kilometres (373 miles) from the port city of Comodoro Rivadavia.
Earlier in the morning, the navy said a “positive identification” had been made by a remote-operated submersible from the American company Ocean Infinity. The company, commissioned by the Argentine government, began searching for the missing vessel Sept. 7.
It remained unclear what the next steps could be.