'Explosion' heard near Argentine sub's last known position

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The Argentinian navy says that an event consistent with an explosion was recorded near the site where the San Juan submarine disappeared last week.

"An anomalous, singular, short, violent and non-nuclear event consistent with an explosion," occurred shortly after the last communication of the San Juan and its 44 crew, Captain Enrique Baldi said at a news conference in Buenos Aires on Thursday.

Earlier, a US Navy plane detected an object near the area where a missing Argentine navy submarine sent its last signal during a search flight over the South Atlantic.

But US Navy data analysis later revealed the item was "not the lost submarine", a US embassy spokesperson said.

The Argentine military submarine ARA San Juan and crew are seen leaving the port of Buenos Aires, Argentina, June 2, 2014. /Reuters Photo

The ARA San Juan went missing more than a week ago with 44 crew members on board.

The plane, a P-8A Poseidon, returned to its base in Bahia Blanca, Argentina late on Wednesday. It was one of the dozens of Argentine and foreign boats and planes hunting for the submarine.

On Wednesday, the search entered a "critical phase" as the crew on board could be running low on oxygen, an Argentine navy spokesman said.

Members of the Argentine Navy look down at sea from an airplane during a flight to search for the ARA San Juan submarine missing at sea, Argentina November 22, 2017. /Reuters Photo‍

Russia's Defense Ministry has sent an oceanographic research ship to the South Atlantic to help with the search for the submarine, TASS news agency reported on Thursday.

The vessel, called Yantar (Amber), is equipped with two self-propelled deep submergence vehicles allowing it to examine underwater areas up to 6,000 meters deep, TASS quoted the Russian military as saying.

People gather to pray for the 44 crew members of the missing at sea ARA San Juan submarine, at the entrance of an Argentina Naval Base in Mar del Plata, November 22, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Around 30 boats and planes and 4,000 people from Argentina, the United States, Britain, Chile and Brazil have joined the search for the submarine, which last transmitted its location about 480 km from the coast.

Planes have covered some 500,000 square km of the ocean surface, but much of the area has not yet been scoured by the boats.

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters