Following the loss of the submarine, “ARA San Juan” and its 44 crew members in the South Atlantic last month, the head of the Argentine navy has been sacked.
The defense minister placed Adm Marcelo Srur in retirement on Friday night, it has emerged.
WHAT HAPPENED?
The sub went missing on November 15, when ARA San Juan was returning from a routine mission in Ushuaia near the southern-most tip of South America, when the vessel reported an “electrical breakdown”.
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It has surfaced and has reported the breakdown, which was described by the Naval Commander Gabriel Galeazzi as a “short circuit” in the sub’s batteries.
The vessel was then ordered to cut its mission short and return to Mar del Plata naval base immediately.
The Argentine navy raised the possibility on November 23, that the missing submarine in the South Atlantic suffered an explosion, heightening concerns over the fate of the 44 crew members.
An international search operation which was launched with the aim of discovering the Submarine was proved futile.
The families of the missing have urged the government to keep looking for the submarine, describing the anguish of living with uncertainty since the rescue operation was wound up just over two weeks ago.
Some ships are still searching in an area where a loud noise was recorded in the hours following the disappearance – possible evidence that the submarine imploded.
