An Argentine submarine was found in Deep Ocean Ravine: NPR

The crew aboard the ARA San Juan submarine are waiting outside the Naval Base in Mar del Plata. The Argentine Navy announced Saturday morning that the missing submarine was in a deep ravine in the Atlantic Ocean.

Federico Cosso / AP

hide the legend

activate the legend

Federico Cosso / AP

The crew aboard the ARA San Juan submarine are waiting outside the Naval Base in Mar del Plata. The Argentine Navy announced Saturday morning that the missing submarine was in a deep ravine in the Atlantic Ocean.

Federico Cosso / AP

An Argentine submarine was found about 800 meters from the surface of the ocean, nearly a year after his disappearance with 44 crew members on board.

Ocean Infinity, a Houston-based company, sent mini-submarines to search the submarine in the bottom of the ocean. On the last day of their search, they received the notification of a geological formation 60 meters long in a deep ravine of the ocean, about 700 miles east of the Argentine city of Puerto Madryn. . Photographic images revealed that it was the submarine, the ARA San Juan.

The Argentine army announced that the San Juan had been found in a tweet:

The San Juan belonged to the Argentine Navy and was participating in a routine Ushuaia mission in the Patagonian region of Mar del Plata in the province of Buenos Aires, when he lost contact with the Navy. army on November 15, 2017. The navy subsequently announced that an explosion had occurred. been recorded near the last known location of the submarine.

Last August, the Argentine government hired Ocean Infinity to search for the wreck, with a $ 7.5 million pledge promised if the submarine were found. The company had previously been tasked with locating Flight 370 of Malaysia Airlines, which had disappeared over the Indian Ocean in 2014.

The search for the submarine provoked protests from members of the men's family aboard and a reorganization of the Argentine army, including the dismissal of his high commander. An investigation revealed that naval officials had authorized the submarine to join the mission after being warned that the ship had mechanical problems, the Washington Post reported.

Earlier this year, relatives of the crew members camped for several weeks outside the presidential palace in Buenos Aires, where they asked the government to continue its search for the missing submarine.

Jorge Villarreal, father of a submarine crew member, Fernando Villarreal, told news channel Todo Noticias: "The important thing is that it was found. We now know where he is and we can mourn in the best possible way, "The New York Times reported.

Argentina's Defense Minister, Oscar Aguad, said Argentina did not have the technology to recover the submarine, and that officials determine the next steps, according to the AP.