First Lieutenant Fernando Ariel Mendoza’s relatives are among those who have gathered at a naval base in the Atlantic resort city of Mar del Plata as they anxiously await news of their loved ones.
His sister-in-law Marcela Tagliafeta told Argentinian daily Clarin today the survival of the miners – trapped 2,300 feet underground for 69 days after a cave-in in August 2010 – was keeping her hopes of a family reunion alive.
She said: “I am convinced that if the 33 Chilean miners survived, our 44 are also going to come out okay.
“They are 44 good people who don’t deserve an unhappy ending.”
Mrs Tagliafeta spoke as 1st Lt Mendoza’s fisherman brother Carlos hung an Argentine flag on a perimeter fence at the naval base, with the inked handprints of the missing submarine officer’s two children Fernando and Magali on it, alongside the message: ‘Stay strong daddy.”
His wife Carolina stayed at home and made sure the youngsters were kept away from TV news about the ongoing operation to locate the submarine.
The vessel went missing last Wednesday while sailing Ushuaia to Mar del Plata after reporting a battery failure and losing communication with the Argentine navy.
The crew members include Argentina’s first female submarine officer Eliana Krawczyk, 35, and Luis Niz, 25, who is due to get married in two weeks’ time.
Britain’s HMS Protector has been scouring the South Atlantic as part of the International search operation.
Argentine navy spokesman Enrique Balbi admitted yesterday that the operation was entering a critical stage because the submarine only has seven days oxygen supply if it is unable to surface, meaning the oxygen on board could run out today.
The San Jose copper-gold mine accident in the Atacama Desert, 28 miles north of the regional capital of Copiapo, began on August 5, 2010.
The 33 men trapped by a rock the size of the Empire State building were cut off completely from the world for 17 days until rescuers were able to drill down to the tunnel where they were sheltering to find they had survived.
Their dramatic experience, including their rescue nearly two months later, was later turned into a Hollywood film called The 33 starring Antonio Banderas.
In August 2000, 118 Russian submariners aboard the Kursk died when it sank in the Barents Sea. The disaster took place during a Russian naval exercise which involved 30 ships and three submarines. Following reports of the explosion it took more than 16 hours for rescue teams to locate the sunken vessel.