ARA San Juan: New contact made after sonar search for missing Argentine submarine

The hunt for the missing Argentine submarine, the ARA San Juan, has a glimmer of hope after a sonar search for the vessel reportedly made new contact with the submarine. According to Argentina's navy, the contact will be further investigated by the remotely operated Russian Panther Plus submarine, Sky News reported.

The ARA San Juan went missing off the coast of Argentina on 15 November, but the country's navy called off the search for it 15 days after the submarine went missing with 44 crew members on board. Despite an international effort to locate the submarine, the vessel remains missing.

However, despite the ongoing search for the submarine, the Argentine navy has abandoned hope of finding survivors after the last communication made by the ARA San Juan revealed that seawater had entered the vessel's ventilation system, which caused a battery to short-circuit and start a fire.

According to the Argentine navy, even if the crew had survived the explosion caused by the fire, the incident would have likely cut off the oxygen supply for a few more days, further limiting their chances of survival.

The navy's decision to abandon the search has led to protests from the families of the missing submarine's crew members. The tragedy also led to the dismissal of the head of Argentina's navy, Admiral Marcelo Srur, earlier this month.

It is still unclear whether the new signal detected is from the missing submarine. Previous contacts detected had been false alarms.