Hopes fade for Argentina's missing submarine crew

Argentina's missing submarine is expected to be found in the coming days, the country's president has said, as hopes fade for the 44 crew on board.

An international search effort has so far failed to trace the ARA San Juan which disappeared in the South Atlantic Ocean on November 15.

Some of the crew's relatives have reportedly given up hope of a rescue after waiting anxiously for news at a base in Mar del Plata.

Navy officials say a sound "consistent with an explosion" was recorded near the time and place that the submarine went missing and the vessel only had a week's supply of oxygen on board.

Maria Villareal, the mother of one crew member, said: "At this point, the truth is I have no hope that they will come back."

In his first public comments on the missing sub, Argentinian president Mauricio Macri said: "The disappearance and current search for the ARA San Juan submarine has touched all Argentines.

"It's a difficult moment for all, but obviously, especially for the families of the 44 crew members.

"I'm here to guarantee you that we will carry on with the search, especially now that we have the support of all the international community."

The German-built submarine was commissioned in 1985 and was most recently refitted in 2014.

Some relatives of the crew have claimed the navy put their loved ones at risk in a vessel that is more than 30 years old.

"They killed my brother!" a man leaving the base in a car shouted to reporters.

More than a dozen planes and ships have been taking part in the search despite stormy weather that has caused powerful waves.

Search teams are ranging across an area of some 185,000 square miles (480,000 square kilometres) - roughly the size of Spain.

The Argentine navy said Russia is sending an Antonov transport aircraft and a ship in the southern Patagonian port of Comodoro Rivadavia is being adapted to carry a US navy submarine rescue chamber to the area.

Britain's Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has offered "sincerest condolences" to Argentina, saying: "When it comes to situations like this, nationality doesn't matter: All sailors have an obligation to help each other in a time of such desperate need."