Submarine ARA San Juan: Cape Town is already waiting for the ship that brings all the answers to the tragedy – 11/27/2018

This does not mean that the pain is over and that the wounds will finally dry up, but that the tragedy of ARA San Juan is advancing here, in South Africa, towards a new beginning: the reconstruction of the misfortune, the search for light on the causes of collapse and, why not, the elucidation of it will be possible or not a reflection of the sunken ship. Answers to all these questions are supposed to bring with him the ship flying the Norwegian flag Seabed Constructor, the ultra-technological colossus of the seas that found a needle in a haystack: the remains of the Argentine submarine at 907 meters deep.

Cape Town is a wonderful and strange place. At the foot of mountain of the tableA natural and enormous trapeze, its streets combine financial progress with the remnants of racial segregation. The busts of Nelson Mandela remember that apartheid existed here and was defeated. But immediately, the rounds of global speculative capital announce to the visitor that there is no turning back for companies that take full control. The waterfront is a special sight: a radical concentration of mainly European tourists who like to travel in cruise mode and who are served by mainly black employees. A few extra steps and the quay more than 200 meters long appears between On Wednesday and Thursday, it is planned to moor the ship of the company Ocean Infinity.

The boat is a few hours a long journey of nearly 80 days. After the discovery on Friday, November 17, they decided to continue to visit this port and not to return to Comodoro Rivadavia, as originally planned. On board, accompanied by the crew, are four Argentine observers who are also relatives of four members of the ARA San Juan crew. One of them, Luis Tagliapietra, is the father of Corporal Alejandro Tagliapietra. From the high seas and via WhatsApp, he said Clarin"We are tired, but also grateful and full of expectations, we want to land and return soon to Argentina to see how this story will continue. We must be with our affections again"

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The Argentines and the rest of the crew will be received in the South African port by two emissaries of the Argentine government: the captain of the ship Gonzalo Prieto, destined for the time as a naval attache in Cape Town, and by representatives of the local embbady of Argentina. Officials have a dual protocol mission. Welcome the travelers after an odyssey crossed by the emotions and prepare the ground for a new trip: that of the 67 thousand images taken by submersible vehicles operated at a distance that found the submarine.

This is a key element that will be treated diplomatically as such. According to Clarín's Ministry of Defense, these images present a level of detail never seen before. Some experts even think that they will allow a three-dimensional reconstruction, through virtual reality, of what could have happened to the ship. Judge Caleta Olivia Marta Yáñez badured that no one will be able to see them until she has received them. And it is a condition of payment made by the government to the company that does not leak a single one. All these data will be uploaded in this same port that this Tuesday seems calm and especially prepared. The morning Clarin He traveled without major inconvenience and was able to visualize the mooring space from another boat. The area is restricted and is only accessible with official permission. You can see packaged discounts and different workstations. Operators move around the area, stuck in their tasks and forgetful of the flow of tourists nearby. It's as if the task area was attached to Puerto Madero, barely separated by a door. A few meters away is the departure area for ferries that daily drive hundreds of tourists to Robben Island Prison (Seal Island), where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years in prison.

A few meters from the site where the builder of the seabed will attach, a polar ship with red hull is particularly awaiting the arrival. It's something like a twin brother. He's calling SA Aghullas and his crew, today, worked on the bridge. Upon arrival, the vessel Ocean Infinity will begin the transfer of underwater vehicles and other specific materials from one ship to another. It turns out that at the end of this stage, the next mission in which will ship part of Ocean Infinity will be the biggest scientific exploration of the Weddel Sea of ​​all time. A multidisciplinary introduction never seen until here in Antarctica, which will take place in the first months of 2019. Several of the vehicles that operated in the oceanic abysses to find the submarine will now go to the frozen confines to provide fresh water. other types of revelations, this time scientific and about the future of humanity. But that, of course, is another story. Now, here in the wonderful city of Mandela, it's time to count.

South Africa Special Envoy.