Marina Devo/Reuters
Argentine searchers have found the missing submarine ARA San Juan at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean a year after it vanished with 44 crewmen aboard, authorities announced. A statement from Argentina’s navy released Saturday said the vessel was found 2,625 feet deep in waters just off the Valdes Peninsula. A “positive identification” was made by a remote-operated submersible involved in the latest search operation. The announcement comes just two days after the loved ones of the missing sailors gathered at the Argentine Naval Base in Mar del Plata to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the vessel’s disappearance. The ARA San Juan lost contact on Nov. 15, 2017, as it was returning to the base, and an explosion was later detected near the area where it was last located, dashing the hopes of distraught family members who’d gathered during search and rescue efforts. Argentina gave up on finding the vessel after a massive search involving 18 different countries failed to turn up the San Juan.