2017.11.2219:25:00UTC+00ARGENTINA: Submarine Search At Critical Stage As Oxygen Level Nears Zero

The Argentinean Navy confirmed Wednesday that it still has "no indication" on the whereabouts of the submarine ARA San Juan a week after losing contact with 44 crew members on board in an area around 360 kilometers off the South American country's coast.

The situation has reached a critical stage as, according to the authorities, the vessel's oxygen supply is about to run out.

Captain Enrique Balbi, the spokesman of the Navy, said in a press conference that "to the moment we do not have any trace of the submarine" and assured that "we continue in critical phase regarding the oxygen."

The spokesman explained that the English vessel that collaborates with the search "spotted three flares: one orange and two white. The data was reported, and units were deployed to make a patrol and evaluate any contact, also to an American aircraft for the sighting of that zone."

However, he said, "an all-night long patrol got no contact passively or actively."

The search is focused in an area of 20 square kilometers, about 360 kilometers off the Vald?s Peninsula on the Argentinean coast.

Also, the Navy said that several national and foreign naval and air units have assisted in the search.