Missing Argentine Submarine Latest: Explosion Killed ARA San Juan Crew, Report Claims

A report released on investigation into the missing Argentine submarine revealed recently that all 44 crew on board the vessel most likely died due to an explosion and that they "did not suffer or drown." The report, which was shared on SaveTheRoyalNavy.org's Twitter account, comes as the search for the missing vessel continues with no clue as to its whereabouts.

"The acoustic signal that originated ... on November 15, 2017 was caused by the collapse (implosion) of the pressure inside the ARA San Juan at a depth of 388 meters, the energy that the collapse released was equivalent to the explosion of 5,669 kilograms of TNT (explosives)," one of the findings of the report stated.

It added that these conditions made the vessel's hull completely pulverized "in 40 milliseconds," so the crew did not suffer.

"They did not suffer or drown, their death was instantaneous," the report says. There has been no comment from the Argentine Navy about this report and the findings.

The submarine disappeared from radars on Nov. 15 in the South Atlantic. The ARA San Juan's last known location was about 300 miles from Argentina's southern coast and was believed to have disappeared following the battery failure. Despite weeks of search, the ship was not found and the people on board were declared dead.

Late December, Argentine Navy announced that with help from Russia, it will continue its search for the ship. The U.S. joined the search for the German-built San Juan on Nov. 17 but said it will end its search for the ship in January.

There have been many theories that surfaced about the missing submarine. Some families of the crew also accused the Argentine Navy of cover-ups. Following its disappearance, accusations of bribery and corruption surrounding the vessel’s battery replacement also surfaced.

“There is a suspicion that the batteries that have been replaced were partly or not of the quality that they should have [been],” Cornelia Schmidt-Liermann, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Argentine Parliament, told German public radio outlet BR earlier this month. “We also do not know where they came from, Germany or any other country, so we want to know what technicians were there and those who signed.”

The fate of the ARA San Juan and its 44 crew members remains shrouded in mystery.

Jesica Medina, the sister of one of the 44 missing sailors on board the vessel, said a Royal Navy helicopter was chasing the Argentine submarine when it went missing. However, U.K.'s Ministry of Defense refuted the claims.