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Search for a Missing Sub

Argentine naval personnel saluted from the dock as the R/V Atlantis departed Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina in December 2017. Atlantis spent six weeks searching for the ARA San Juan, an Argentinian naval submarine that disappeared in mid-November after reporting technical difficulties. Atlantis used its multibeam sonar to map the seafloor and later was loaded with the U.S. Navy’s Cable-operated Underwater Recovery Vehicle (CURV-21), which was used to thoroughly investigate targets detected by the international fleet conducting the search. The U.S. Navy is no longer actively participating in the search, but a naval report released in January 2018 suggests an explosion occurred when the submarine lost communication on November 15. (Photo by Lance Wills, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)