The loss of ARA San Juan with 44 crew was Argentina's worst peacetime submarine disaster and the worst submarine loss globally since 2003.
Key Facts
- Date of disappearance
- 15 November 2017
- Crew aboard
- 44 personnel
- Search duration before downgrade
- 15 days
- Wreck discovery date
- 16 November 2018
- Wreck depth
- 907 metres
- Wreck found by
- Ocean Infinity (private company)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
ARA San Juan, an Argentine Navy submarine, was conducting a routine training exercise in the South Atlantic when it disappeared on 15 November 2017. The precise cause of the loss was not immediately known, though the submarine was operating off the Argentine coast when contact was lost.
After disappearing, ARA San Juan became the subject of an international search and rescue operation. Following 15 days without locating the vessel or survivors, the Argentine Navy downgraded the effort from a rescue mission to a search for the wreck, effectively acknowledging that the 44 crew members were presumed dead.
The disaster was deemed the worst submarine loss since the 2003 Chinese submarine 361 accident and the second worst peacetime naval disaster in Argentine history. A year later, on 16 November 2018, the private firm Ocean Infinity located the wreck at a depth of 907 metres in the South Atlantic, providing closure but raising ongoing questions about the submarine's condition and cause of sinking.