Detection of 'Explosion-like Sound' Near Missing Argentine Submarine

A spokesperson for the Argentine Navy said on Thursday that last week, just as the last message was sent from the missing submarine of the country in the southern Atlantic Ocean, an unusual sound 'similar to an explosion' was recorded. According to Reuters, Enrique Balbi described the loud sound recorded on the morning of November 15 (corresponding to Aban 24) as 'unusual, instantaneous, and very loud,' and emphasized that it was not a nuclear explosion. The Argentine Navy does not have sufficient information regarding the cause of this explosion and the possibility of the submarine 'ARA San Juan' being attacked. A large-scale aerial and maritime operation has been launched to find this submarine, which went missing last week with 44 personnel and crew members. Family members of the crew are extremely worried, and the fate of the submarine has occupied public attention in Argentina in recent days. The spokesperson for the Argentine Navy added that the explosion-like sound received on Thursday corresponds with a separate report on Wednesday regarding 'unusual acoustic vibrations' in the sea, occurring at the same time the submarine sent its last message. He stated, 'This is very important because it allows us to connect yesterday's U.S. report of an acoustic vibration in the sea with the explosion-like sound we recorded. This sound was very loud, instantaneous, and non-nuclear, which is typically similar to the sound of an explosion.' The location where this terrifying sound was recorded was very close to the position of the German-made submarine, which had reported its location about 430 kilometers from the coast in its last message. Reuters adds that early on Thursday, a spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Argentina stated that American aircraft had found an object around the point where the submarine disappeared, but it later turned out not to be the submarine. These reconnaissance flights are part of a broad maritime and aerial intelligence operation to locate the Argentine submarine. Concerns are growing daily that the submarine's oxygen supply, which only has 7 days left, may run out. Family members of the submarine's crew have gathered at the naval base in the port city of Mar del Plata, from where the search operations are being directed. The submarine was en route from Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, to Mar del Plata and had reported a malfunction in its electronic equipment just minutes before going missing. This submarine has been in service since 1983 and was repaired and refurbished in Argentina in 2008.