Signals detected as search for Argentine submarine continues

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - As the search operation for the missing Argentine submarine continues, now the country’s navy has said that it has picked up mysterious noises.

The Argentine navy said that the noises could be a distress signal from the crew of a missing submarine.

It further noted that the sub's captain reported a "failure" in the vessel's battery system before it disappeared.

According to a senior U.S. Navy official familiar with the Navy's assistance in the search for the vessel, the sonar systems of two ships detected noises sounding like tools being banged against the hull of a submarine.

the official further noted that crews of submarines in distress bang on the vessel's hull to alert passing ships to their location. 

The official further noted that the Argentine navy was able to fix the rough location of the sounds the two ships picked up.

The navy is now believed to be concentrating its search in an area of 35 square nautical miles approximately 330 miles off the coast of Argentina.

As the search operation for the missing watercraft continued, the vessel carrying 44 crew members that went missing off the coast of Patagonia, still remains undetected.

The San Juan, which is a German-built TR 1700 class diesel-electric submarine, was on a routine trip from a base in Ushia, on the southern tip of the continent, to its home base of Mar del Plata.

The Navy earlier stated that no SOS warning was received and a spokesperson hypothesized that it would be logical that a major electrical problem could have knocked out the submarine's communications.

The country’s Navy has said that since it debuted in 1983, the ARA San Juan hadn't experienced any problems until two years ago, when it was sent to port to be repaired.

Adm. Gabriel Gonzalez then said, "We have a loss of communications. We are not talking of an emergency.”

The Argentine navy said it ordered stations along the coast to search their communications and listen into all possible frequencies of the submarine."

The U.S. Navy said that it had ordered its Undersea Rescue Command based in San Diego to deploy to Argentina to help with the search.

The country's Navy spokesman Gabriel Galeazzi said on Monday that the vessel's captain reported a "failure" in the vessel's battery system shortly before it disappeared last week.

Galeazzi said that after he reported the sub had experienced a "short circuit," he was told to "change course and return to Mar del Plata.”

He added that this type of problem is considered routine and the vessel's crew was reported safe.

Galeazzi added that the Argentine navy had one more communication with the captain before the sub went missing. 

The navy did not provide any details of the content of that final communication.

Even though the last confirmed contact with the submarine was on Wednesday, on Saturday, seven reported communication attempts were believed to have originated from the San Juan.

On Monday, officials said the radio calls had not come from the missing sub.