Argentina stops the operation to rescue the 44 crew members of the San Juan submarine, but continues to search for the submarine itself, Enrique Balbi, the country's official spokesman, said on Thursday.
At a press conference broadcast on the Internet, he said that the search time for seafarers was exceeded by twice the possible, but no traces of either people or the submarine itself were found.
"More than twice we exceeded the number of days determined for the possibility of saving the crew. Despite all the power of the efforts made, it was not possible to find the boat. The rescued will not be, "Balbi said.
According to him, in connection with the cessation of the rescue operation, three vessels operating in the ocean are now temporarily returning to the Komodoro-Rivadavia base . However, then the search for the submarine will continue, and other vessels, including the Malvinas Islands, will also join it, which will deliver Russian equipment to the search zone.