2017 implosion of ARA San Juan submarine was 'foreseeable,' trial hears

The implosion of the ARA San Juan submarine killing 44 sailors in November 2017, Argentina’s worst naval disaster since the Malvinas War, was "foreseeable," prosecutors argued as the trial over the disaster got underway Tuesday.

The sinking of the submarine, in circumstances that remain unclear, was "a foreseeable outcome given the condition of the vessel, which made the shipwreck possible," the prosecution said in the indictment against four former Navy officers, who are standing trial in the Patagonian city of Río Gallegos.

The ARA San Juan went missing a week after it set off from Ushuaia on Argentina's southern tip and was returning to its home port at the Mar del Plata naval base.

The vessel's crushed wreckage still lies deep on the sea bed in a remote area of the South Atlantic off Santa Cruz province, where the trial is taking place.

The submarine vanished on November 15 after reporting that seawater had entered the ventilation system, causing a battery on the diesel-electric vessel to short-circuit and start a fire. More than a dozen countries contributed to the search for the submarine.

Four former Navy officers – former Training Command chief Luis López Mazzeo, former Submarine Force commander Claudio Villamide, the Submarine Command's former chief-of-staff Héctor Alonso and former head of operations Hugo Correa – have been charged with dereliction of duty and aggravated negligent destruction.

They face between one and five years in prison if convicted.

 

'Felt like nobodies'

None of the families of the victims -- 43 men and one woman -- attended the start of the trial in Rio Gallegos, a remote city in Chubut Province.

"They can't even afford to make photocopies, never mind plane tickets and lodgings," said Valeria Carreras, a lawyer who represents 34 families of the victims.

"The most important thing is that the trial is finally happening," she said.

"These are people without power, money or a family name. They have felt like nobodies for the past eight years, which is why there is so much anticipation. Visibility is important, so that oblivion and time do not become accomplices to impunity.”

Administrative, maintenance and safety failures are suspected. The accused face charges are dereliction of duty and aggravated negligent destruction.

Carreras accuses the Navy of "deficiencies in the maintenance of the submarine." 

Ahead of the trial she said the Navy harbours a "culture of silence" over the sinking, which she called "an avoidable tragedy."

She noted that the Navy “was the most secretive force during the dictatorship,” referring to the brutal 1976-1983 military junta that ruled Argentina.

Public prosecutor Julio Zarate said the state had garnered "enough evidence to secure convictions."

In 2021, a court martial dismissed Villamide for negligence and sentenced other officers to up to 45 days in jail for concealing information over the disaster.

 

'Make it disappear'

The court ignored a request from lawyer Luis Tagliapietra, whose 27-year-old son Alejandro died on the submarine, to hold the trial in Mar del Plata, where crew members had lived.

In the direct aftermath of the tragedy, the victims' families put pressure on the authorities to investigate the cause of the disaster.

Some claimed they were intimidated and tailed because of their activism.

The case has ensnared top officials, fuelling suspicions of a cover-up.

It was later revealed that former president Mauricio Macri had ordered illegal surveillance on them.

Macri was prosecuted over the scandal in a case closed last year by the Supreme Court. 

The Supreme Court last year threw out the case against him.

Neither Macri nor his former defence minister are among the 90 witnesses called to give evidence at the trial.

"By taking the trial to Rio Gallegos, so far from Buenos Aires, they are trying to make the tragedy disappear," said Tagliapietra, who is representing around 20 relatives.

"This is the first trial; the investigation into the other individuals responsible in the chain of command leading up to Macri has not yet been completed," added the lawyer, noting that "67,000 photographs and hours of video" still need to be analysed.

Carreras expressed confidence that the more than 90 witnesses summoned to testify will provide new evidence during this trial.

During the preliminary investigation, "many had memory lapses, but that may change now," he said.

 

Ex-president cleared

Hearings will take place over four consecutive days, with a week's break before the next session.

The hypothesis is that the submarine suffered a valve failure that allowed water to enter the battery compartment, triggering a fire and then an explosion.

Built in 1983, the vessel was not designed for diving to depths of more than 300 metres.

But testing this theory would involve salvaging the submarine's wreckage from a depth of over 900 metres (2,950 feet) – a multimillion-dollar operation, according to the plaintiffs.

"It's very difficult to convict someone of a crime when you don't really know what happened," Tagliapietra said. “The trial may end in acquittal.”

"There were many shortcomings prior to the sinking, ground control did not make the right decisions, but we still don't know why it sank," said Tagliapietra. 

"There's resignation among the families. I'm still fighting. It's the promise I made to my son."