A submarine has vanished, launching a frantic search for 44 people on board

[sl8]

Source: Washington Post

Argentine authorities are scrambling to find a three-decade-old submarine that suddenly stopped communicating during a routine mission on Wednesday — an emergency authorities say could range from a fried electrical system to something much worse.

The diesel-electric ARA San Juan was returning to its base south of Buenos Aires after a routine mission to Ushuaia, near the southern tip of South America. Then, suddenly, it went silent.

According to the Associated Press, no one has been able to contact the sub or any of its 44 crew members since Wednesday, even though an international collection of rescuers are scanning all radio frequencies and scouring the waters near the San Juan’s most recent ping.

Complicating matters: strong winds and high waves that were battering search-and-rescue ships.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/11/18/a-submarine-has-vanished-launching-a-frantic-search-for-44-people-on-board/?utm_term=.0a0aaae3ea88

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Article by Cleve R. Wootson Jr.
November 18 at 11:50 AM

[EX500rider]

1. Maintenance may have been a little neglected.

I've never seen a sub with bottom growth like this one had in this pic:


She did undergo a refit in 2012 but was launched 34 years ago.
She can dive to over 900 ft so if she didn't flood they make be able to rescue the crew if she went down in shallower water.
She also is equipped to accept a Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV) but her location would have to be found before her air runs out if she has sunk.


http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-42030560

[RandomAccess]

2. I hate stories like this --

not just that 44 men (probably all men) are in danger, but imagining what they're going through or perhaps have already gone through.

[crim son]

5. I agree.

It has always struck me as the most horrible thing, to die aboard a submarine.

[RandomAccess]

8. For me

it's the prospect of dying in panic or fear.

[sammythecat]

9. Of course we all hope for the best

but if the worst has happened I hope it was something sudden and catastrophic that ended the ordeal quickly. I hate to think of them with no communication, slowly running out of air, and possibly in the dark as well. I really don't think I'd be able to handle that well at all. Just a terrifying prospect.

[sandensea]

12. There is indeed one woman among the 44: Lt. Eliana Krawczyk

Here she is (at 0:57) during a media tour of the ARA San Juan, on May 17 this year (it's in Spanish):

[TeamPooka]

3. That's horrible. What a nightmare. nt

[marble falls]

4. From one bubblehead to his Argentine brothers and sister....

Last edited Sun Nov 19, 2017, 01:29 PM - Edit history (1)

Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy word,
Who walkedst on the foaming deep,
And calm amidst its rage didst sleep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_Father%2C_Strong_to_Save


That song still gives goosebumps. As does anchors Aweigh. If the USN is on station there, there's hope. A thirty year old boat isn't really all that old as long as it continually refitted as needed. The fact that it seems they couldn't pop a phone or beacon is troubling.

[marble falls]

6. This just in ....

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/argentina-submarine-satellite_us_5a10d25ee4b0dd63b1aad6d0?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009


Argentina Detects Signals Believed To Be From Missing Submarine
Argentina said the calls were likely a sign the crew of 44 was trying to reestablish contact.
Marcos Brindicci and Maximiliano Rizz

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina/BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Hopes that 44 crew members of a missing Argentine navy submarine may be alive rose when the defense ministry said the vessel likely tried to communicate via satellite on Saturday as a search mission was underway in the stormy South Atlantic.

The ministry said seven failed “satellite calls” that it believes came from the ARA San Juan submarine were detected in a likely sign the crew was trying to reestablish contact.

The signals, in the late morning and early afternoon, lasted between four and 36 seconds, the ministry said. Argentina is working on tracing the location with an unnamed U.S. company specialized in satellite communications, the ministry said.

It was not immediately clear what type of calls the vessel may have tried to make but submarines that are stricken underwater can float a location beacon known as an EPIRB to the surface that can then emit emergency signals via satellite.

Whipping winds and more than 20-foot waves in the South Atlantic hindered the international search for the submarine.

The last confirmed location of the German-built ARA San Juan was 432 km (268 miles) off Argentina’s southern Atlantic coast early on Wednesday.

The U.S. Navy said it was deploying a deep-sea rescue mission to Argentina from California to support the effort, with a remotely operated vehicle and two vessels capable of rescuing people from bottomed submarines set to arrive in coming days.

As nations from Chile to South Africa offered help, Argentine sea vessels and planes scoured the southern sea.

But a storm pitching powerful winds and waves more than 6 meters (20 feet) high has disrupted visibility and movement in the area, navy spokesman Enrique Balbi said. The submarine’s color and design, which aim to camouflage the vessel in the ocean’s surface, also posed a challenge.

rest of the story at link.

[NJCher]

10. how an epirb works

[mahatmakanejeeves]

15. 121.5 MHz is an aircraft emergency frequency.

The aircraft emergency frequency (also known as GUARD) is a frequency used on the aircraft band reserved for emergency communications for aircraft in distress. The frequencies are 121.5 MHz for civilian, also known as International Air Distress (IAD) or VHF Guard, and 243.0 MHz for military use, also known as Military Air Distress (MAD) or UHF Guard. Earlier emergency locator transmitters used the guard frequencies to transmit, but an additional frequency of 406 MHz is used by more modern ELTs.

FCC Warns Pilots Not to Mess Around on 121.5 MHz

Violators face stiff fines, confiscation of all radio equipment and possible criminal charges.
By Rob Mark August 10, 2017

[sammythecat]

11. That all sounds very hopeful

I hope they establish some communication very soon so they could at least know the cavalry is on the way.

[irisblue]

7. I hope so!

[lamp_shade]

13. No new news at this hour (2:00 am EST).

[sandensea]

14. Unfortunately, the prospects look dim. Here's this from a leading Buenos Aires daily:

Naval engineer who participated in the launching of the submarine raises a tragic hypothesis

While the Navy intensified the search for the ARA San Juan, naval engineer Julio Langani spoke to ámbito.com of a tragic hypothesis about the fate of the boat and its crew.

According to the expert "the batteries could have overheated, and in that case emit a chlorinated gas that is lethal to people."

Langani knows the ARA San Juan perfectly since he was one of those who participated in the official launching of the submarine at the Thyssen Nordseewerke shipyard in Edem, Germany, on June 20, 1983. In addition, Langani served as project manager during the half-life refit that was made to the submarine between 2008 and 2013 at the Domecq García Shipyard (in Buenos Aires).

Another aspect that supports the Langani hypothesis is that the ARA San Juan has a manual mechanism for emergencies. In case the submarine runs out of power, this mechanism can be activated manually, which allows generating energy to give a signal that should be captured by the sonars to determine a position.

Enrique Balbi, spokesman for the Argentine Navy, confirmed in statements to the press that "the radio beacon was never activated" by the submarine.

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ambito.com%2F903823-ingeniero-naval-que-participo-de-la-botadura-del-submarino-plantea-una-hipotesis-tragica&edit-text=

[sl8]

16. Argentine navy detects noises that could be signal from missing sub

From http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/20/americas/argentina-missing-submarine/index.html

Related article: Argentina's missing submarine: What we know

Argentine navy detects noises that could be signal from missing sub
By John Kirby, Ana Melgar and Joe Sterling, CNN
Updated 4:51 PM ET, Mon November 20, 2017

(CNN) Argentina's navy on Monday picked up sounds that could be a distress signal from the crew of a missing submarine and said the captain reported a "failure" in the vessel's battery system before it disappeared.

Two vessels searching for the submarine heard a "noise" at a depth of about 656 feet, said navy spokesman Enrique Balbi from Buenos Aires. The location of the noise coincides with the route the submarine would have taken on the way to its home port in Mar del Plata.

A US Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft assisting in the search was brought to the area to record an acoustic footprint of the sound. The file was later taken to the Mar del Plata base for analysis.

...

The sonar systems of the two ships detected noises sounding like tools being banged against the hull of a submarine, according to a senior US Navy official familiar with the Navy's assistance in the search for the Argentine vessel. The official said that crews of submarines in distress bang on the vessel's hull to alert passing ships to their location.

...

More at link.

[sl8]

17. Argentina's navy says sounds didn't come from missing sub

From https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/argentinas-navy-says-sounds-didnt-come-from-missing-sub/2017/11/20/cb89a870-ce52-11e7-a87b-47f14b73162a_story.html?utm_term=.e25104345855

Argentina’s navy says sounds didn’t come from missing sub
By Paul Byrne and Luis Andres Henao | AP November 20 at 7:42 PM

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina — Sounds detected by probes deep in the South Atlantic on Monday did not come from an Argentine submarine that has been lost for five days, the country’s navy said Monday, dashing newfound hope among relatives of the 44 sailors aboard.

Navy spokesman Enrique Balbi told reporters that the “noise” was analyzed and experts determined it was likely “biological.” He said the sounds did not come from tools being banged against the hull of a submarine as was previously reported by some media.

“We all had hope, but unfortunately this comes from believing sources that are not trustworthy,” Balbi said. “Some sources were saying that this was banging on the hull in Morse code signals.”

The noise was heard by two Argentine navy ships about 220 miles (360 kilometers) from the Argentine coast and at a depth of about 650 feet (200 meters). A U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft was sent to help in the effort to isolate the source of the sounds.

...

More at link.

[muriel_volestrangler]

18. More details - apparently, it didn't "suddenly go silent" at all

The ARA San Juan was returning from a routine mission to Ushuaia, near the southern-most tip of South America, when it reported an "electrical breakdown".
...
According to navy spokesman Enrique Balbi, the captain of the ARA San Juan contacted the naval base once more after reporting the mechanical problem.

In the message, he reportedly said that the problem had been adequately fixed and that the sub would submerge and proceed towards Mar del Plata naval base.

The last contact was made at 07:30 local time (10:30 GMT) on Wednesday 15 November. It is not known what happened to the sub after that contact.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-42064144