{"id":36805,"date":"2019-07-19T14:37:04","date_gmt":"2019-07-19T14:37:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/07\/19\/navy-brass-low-budgets-blamed-for-argentine-sub-disaster\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:38:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:38:12","slug":"navy-brass-low-budgets-blamed-for-argentine-sub-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/07\/19\/navy-brass-low-budgets-blamed-for-argentine-sub-disaster\/","title":{"rendered":"Navy brass, low budgets blamed for Argentine sub disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina \u2014 An Argentine legislative commission has concluded that the sinking of a submarine with all 44 crew members was caused by the inefficiency of naval commanders and budget limitations, discarding theories the vessel was attacked or hit by a ship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a report released Thursday, the legislators also questioned the handling of the crisis by Defense Minister Oscar Aguad<\/a> and President Mauricio Macri<\/a>, who the commission said showed a \u201clow level of involvement with everything related to the tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The TR-1700-class diesel-electric submarine San Juan disappeared on Nov. 15, 2017<\/a>, in the South Atlantic as it sailed back to its base at the port of Mar del Plata after participating in a training exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wreckage wasn\u2019t found until almost a year later at a depth of 800 meters (2,625 feet) east of Patagonia\u2019s Valdes Peninsula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The discovery was made by a ship from the U.S. company Ocean Infinity, which had been hired to search.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The hypotheses that the submarine was attacked by a foreign warship, hit by a fishing vessel or was performing secret tasks outside of jurisdictional waters have been discarded,” said the commission, which was made up of lawmakers from different parties, including the governing party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report pointed to budget limitations in recent years as contributing to the disaster as well as “the failure to update technologies and maintain a minimal level of maintenance based on hours of use that produced a growing deterioration” of the submarine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The navy “tried to continue to fulfill its ordered missions with increasingly reduced budgets. It accepted as normal operating under conditions that were far from optimal for the task,” the report said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government did not immediately comment on the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\t