Alleged Explosion of Missing Submarine Exceeds 220 Pounds of TNT - Reports

According to the Todo Noticias broadcaster, the Argentinian Defense Ministry detonated 220 pounds (100 kilograms) of TNT equivalent at the depth of 40 meters (131 feet) to compare its sound with the noise that had been recorded earlier by the Navy specialists in the area where the submarine had gone missing.

Following a test detonation, the Argentinian Navy established that a likely explosion, which had been recorded in the area where the ARA San Juan was last contacted, was even stronger.

According to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) data, the chosen spot was similar to the area where the “singular anomalous violent non-nuclear event consistent with explosion” took place, but the noise of the “event” had been even greater than the one caused by the detonation of 220 pounds of TNT equivalent.

@ctbto_alerts @SinaZerbo La Organización del Tratado de Prohibición Completa de los Ensayos Nucleares (OTPCE) amplia la información que permite ''afinar'' la búsqueda del A.R.A. San Juan. #ARASanJuan @Armada_Arg @OscarAguadCBA @MindefArg pic.twitter.com/fQSU1DoEwx

— ExtraNews (@ExtraNews_) 29 ноября 2017 г.

Last week, local media reported that federal judge Marta Yanez summoned the Argentine Defense Minister Oscar Aguad to testify as a witness regarding the missing submarine and the search for it. However, a father of the submarine’s crew member, Luis Tagliapietra told Sputnik that minister has not testified before the court nor in person, neither in writing.

#ARASanJuan as she left port for the last time on Monday, Nov 13. pic.twitter.com/ulMFCrMJQ6

— Falkland Islands (@falklands_utd) 4 декабря 2017 г.

"Minister Aguad has been summoned, but has not provided [testimony] in writing or in person yet,” the father of 27-year-old Lt. Alejandro Damian Tagliapietra said.

Luis Tagliapietra himself is a lawyer and a plaintiff in the case, and therefore he has the access to the documents. He noted that the judge had sent Aguad a list of questions last Monday, but the minister had not answered it yet.

ARA San Juan submarine with 44 crew members on board stopped communicating during a routine patrol in the South Atlantic off the coast of Argentina on November 15.

According to some media reports, an explosion could have taken place at the submarine. On November 30, the Navy announced that it had halted its weeks-long operation to rescue the crew of the missing submarine, however, the search for the sub would continue.