Desperate search for missing submarine picks up 'banging noises'
Search vessels in the south Atlantic have picked up noises on their sonar that could be coming from the crew of an Argentine submarine missing for five days, the country's navy has said.
The news on Monday raised hopes for the 44 crew members aboard the ARA San Juan, after earlier apparent distress calls were dismissed as not coming from the stricken vessel.
The noises were detected some 360 kilometres offshore in the relatively shallow water at the edge of Argentina's continental shelf, Navy spokesman Enrique Balbi told reporters.
The noises sounded like tools being banged on the hull of a submarine to attract the attention of rescuers, according to CNN, who cited an unnamed senior US navy official familiar with the international search effort.
Mr Balbi said the position was in line with the course the submarine would have taken to reach its base in the northeastern city of Mar del Plata after reporting a breakdown last week and then going incommunicado.
"I don't want to create false expectations," he said.
A US Navy P-8A Poseidon plane was immediately dispatched to the site where the noises were detected by two Argentine ships.
The plane dropped sonar buoys into the sea to record the noises. Mr Balbi said analysis of the recordings would take a few hours.
"Now we have a point to concentrate the search, without neglecting the entire area of operations," he said, adding that two ships with multi-beam undersea probes were steaming towards the area.
A multinational air and sea search is under way with help from countries including Brazil, Britain, Chile, the United States and Uruguay.
Earlier in the day, the navy said the San Juan, a German-built TR-1700class diesel-electric submarine launched in 1983, had reported a mechanical breakdown in its final communication last Wednesday.
The nature of the breakdown was not immediately clear. It was the first time the navy indicated it had been aware of a problem.
"The vessel surfaced and it reported a breakdown. It was therefore asked to change course and go to Mar del Plata," said Gabriel Galeazzi, the head of the naval base in the city, located 400 kilometers south of Buenos Aires.
Mr Balbi also told reporters that analysis has shown that seven signals received by naval bases over the weekend were not attempted distress calls from the submarine's satellite phone.
Monday's revelations were a blow to relatives of sailors aboard the sub, around 100 of whom are being housed at the Mar del Plata naval base as they await news of the crew.
"They have a lot of hope. The hours go by and the worry rate goes up. The best tranquilizer is accurate information," said Enrique Stein, a member of a psychological support unit set up for the families.
"We don't know anything. We are waiting with a great deal of anxiety," said Andrea Ali, wife of Franco Ali, an electrician aboard the San Juan.
