BUENOS AIRES, October 17. /TASS/. Argentinean judge Marta Yanez summoned three high-ranking military officers for being questioned as suspects as part of the ongoing investigation into the loss of the San Juan submarine in 2017, the Clarin newspaper reported.
The charges were filed against Capt. Hector Alonso, who headed the country's submarine fleet at the time when San Juan disappeared; Capt. Hugo Miguel Correa, the submarine fleet’s former operational chief; and Capt. Jorge Andres Sulia, who was in charge of the fleet’s logistics.
The questioning was scheduled for October 22-24. The officials are suspected of neglecting their professional duties.
Communication with the San-Jose diesel-electric submarine with 44 crew members on board was lost on 15 November 2017 during passage from the Ushuaia naval base. On the day of its mysterious disappearance, the crew reported that water had entered through a snorkel in the accumulator section, causing a short circuit in one of the batteries. During its last contact, the captain said that a fire had broke out, but had been contained, and the submarine continued to move toward the naval base in the city of Mar del Plata.
A multinational search effort followed. Russia’s Yantar vessel was the last to leave the search area on April 1, 2018.
A private US seabed survey company, Ocean Infinity, was hired by the Argentine government to continue the search. About a year after its disappearance, the San Juan was found lying on the seabed at the depth of 907 meters in November 2018.