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Russian experts find two sunken trawlers while combing area for Argentine submarine

The San Juan diesel-electric submarine that left Argentina’s city of Ushuaia carrying 44 crewmembers onboard was lost on November 15
Panther Plus remotely operated underwater vehicle Yuri Smityuk/TASS
Panther Plus remotely operated underwater vehicle
© Yuri Smityuk/TASS

MOSCOW, December 14. /TASS/. Russian Navy experts have inspected the bottom relief in the area of the Atlantic Ocean where a lost Argentine submarine - the San Juan - is being searched for and unearthed two sunken trawlers, the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Thursday.

"Experts from the Russian Navy searched all spots mapped out in the plan of the first search stage for the San Juan submarine with the help of the Panther Plus remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV). In particular, the Russian experts submersed the Panther Plus ROV 12 times from the board of Argentina’s vessel - the Islas Malvinas - at a depth of 135 to 1,050 meters, which made it possible to detect two sunken fishing trawlers, accumulated bottom sediments and two concrete blocks," the report says.

The defense ministry specified that the Russian experts will continue their work following a scheduled maintenance inspection of the Panther Plus equipment in the port of Puerto Belgrano.

The Yantar oceanographic research ship examined several relief spots with ordinary search equipment and found bottom elevations with coral grounds, rocky sediments of the bottom soil and drops of depths with rocky ground.

The San Juan diesel-electric submarine that left Argentina’s city of Ushuaia carrying 44 crewmembers onboard was lost on November 15. The sub has not been found yet. On November 30, Argentina’s navy called off the rescue operation.